5 ways to avoid burnout before the break

Feel like you have a marathon to run before the end of year, when you barely have energy to run 100 metres? Management experts say burnout can be easily avoided if you take charge of your own wellbeing. 

Asanka Gunasekara, Lecturer, Human Resource Management/People Analytics  
Melissa Wheeler, Senior Lecturer, Business Administration 

Topics: burnout, work-life integration, wellbeing  

We often feel exhausted towards the end of year as we are working tirelessly at work while social commitments and Christmas tasks expand.  

Burnout is the feeling of exhaustion, disengagement, ineffectiveness, cynicism, and a sense of moving with no motivation or meaning. 

It has negative psychological, relational and physical consequences and can be devastating for many if not managed appropriately. 

Even though the end of year burnout could be a result of chronic workplace stress that has not been managed, or something in our personal lives, it’s difficult to separate ourselves from the different domains that we belong to - work, family, community, private self. 

It’s time people started to take control of their wellbeing and take steps to make burnout a thing of the past.  

Challenge self-victimisation 

We often experience and partake in burnout “one-upping” in chats with friends and colleagues. Bragging about how burnt out you are and how hard/late/long you are working perpetuates the need to always seem busy or to always be doing more. It puts pressures on others to compete with these norms and match these hyperbolic narratives. Instead, challenge this bragging or self-victimisation by encouraging our friends and colleagues to seek self-care opportunities and to role model healthy work life balance in our own lives. 

Take a Total Leadership approach  

This encourages us to value all parts of our lives (not just work). As our research has shown, augmenting one aspect, such as self-care, creates a spillover effect to other domains, such as work. Employers should support self-care for the betterment of the employee and business. 

Have agency over your own wellbeing 

Starting afresh in 2024, not from a point of deficit, starts with ourselves. Take that break, use mindfulness practices and pay attention to how you feel. Deep breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, spending time outdoors and prioritising sleep can help manage the burnout feeling.    

Mind over matter 

Be realistic with expectations; it’s okay to be good enough and not to achieve perfection in everything we do. Accepting our own limits will help re-adjust our goals and attitude towards life. Stop and celebrate the wins instead of dwelling on what didn’t get done.  

Question that sense of urgency 

Urgency has become a norm in the modern world – whether it be to respond to a text message or to complete an urgent job task making us feel overwhelmed. Enforce a digital detox by unplugging technology over a selected period for our own wellbeing and the wellbeing of everyone around us. We deserve it.