By Victor Kananda

It's midday on that beautiful Thursday, and you're seated with your friends at work. They're discussing productivity - and you're thinking about how the person who makes Friday part of the weekend should be made president forever. The conversation becomes distant, vision becomes blurry, and you slowly drift away.

Meet Burnout: Your Partner In Crime

Some things go together. Think about mac and cheese, peanut butter and jam - and then there's you, your sleepy head, 2 pm, and that work desk.

Are you constantly forgetting things and finding it hard to control your emotions? Or do you feel that Bruno Mars hit "The Lazy Song" was about your work life?

Don't be afraid to admit it. These past few days, procrastination has been in stiff competition with Sylvia for that best friend's position.

Sigh!

You're probably the latest victim of burnout. All these things are how burnout manifests for most professionals.

Well, burnout usually results from an imbalance between how much you're putting into your daily work and the output you get.

Calm down; you're not alone. In fact, the WHO has described burnout as an occupational syndrome resulting from not managing chronic workplace stress, and 77% of professionals claim to have ever gotten it.

The stress itself can be caused by failing to look after one's needs, especially since it's easy to get engrossed in work we feel passionate about. Only later do we slowly exhaust ourselves and start performing less.

How to Efficiently Handle Burnout

You may have been dealing with burnout for the longest time, and you finally want to go back to loving your job. You're tired of Monday blues on Thursdays and want to provide quality service to your clients again.

Getting rid of burnout calls for doing nice things to yourself. If someone told you that you don't love yourself, you'd probably think they're crazier than your best friend Sylvia. They're not.

1. Rest and Relax

If you have a pet, you know how petting them is therapeutic. You'll want to incorporate more relaxing activities like that into your schedule. Love yourself.

If you are pressed for time, you can pair a relaxing activity with one that already exists. For instance, you can listen to your favorite music as you chow down on lunch.

Sleep is another aspect that you need to embrace if you cut your hours for work. The more extreme your burnout is, the more sleep you need to help restore "factory settings."

You can try relaxing methods that help people sleep to ease your body into the new routine.

2. Don't Let Your Work Follow You Everywhere

You don't want to be that person who's always on a work call with your Macbook on the dinner table. Trust me, that soup is one spill away from doing things to your motherboard.

If your work life spills over into your home life, that's a sign from the universe that you're entering dangerous territory.

A simple solution is to segment your time. Set aside specific time windows where you don't check your email or take calls. Your workplace is probably steady enough to survive a few hours without you.

However, if you hold a sensitive position that demands you be available, you can designate time to get back to everyone.

For instance, you can set a few hours between off days to check-in and ensure everything is running smoothly.

3. Adopt a Healthy Relationship with Food

Burnout usually manifests from stress. And we know stress can cause us to either binge or steer clear of food, depending on our coping mechanisms. These options are opposites that have relatively similar mental effects.

Overindulgence will make you lazy and sluggish. Under indulge, and you'll be slow and exhausted.

A well-balanced diet will help you shake off the exhaustion and sluggishness. Even the cliche "glass of water" will keep your mind alert. The rejuvenation a glass of water can give a dehydrated soul is heavenly; You will be feeling better in no time.

4. Reach Out to Other People

A problem shared is a problem half solved. When you burn out and find it hard to care about work anymore, you can talk to someone you feel comfortable around.

Simply sharing how you feel and having someone listen without judging you or cutting you short is a great stress reliever.

Another option is to actively engage with your coworkers. You'll soon realize that you're not alone: Sylvia may look strong, but 1:30 pm finds her head on that work desk. At Least you wait for 2.00 pm.

Sharing a good laugh during break time at work will provide you with more gratification than being glued to your smartphone.

Also, put in a conscious effort to steer clear of any negative Nancys who risk canceling all the effort you've made to get into a good headspace.

5. Incorporate Exercise

Yes, you're burned out, and exercise is the last thing on your mind. However, there is more to exercise than hours of planks and running millions of miles.

A short ten-minute walk or jog can uplift your mood and boost your energy without leaving you short of breath. The same goes for moving around more in the workplace.

When you're walking or jogging, focus on how your body feels- the wind against your skin, your feet crunching on the gravel, your rapid breaths. It's usually such a calming and meditative experience.

You could also do exercises with some extra oomph like dancing, swimming, or even martial arts.

6. Make it About the Small Wins

If you're a driven person, it's your nature to want to get things done. This striving creates a clash between productivity and burnout.

When you're burnt out, you feel like you aren't doing enough for your productivity goals, so you're inclined to do more. Doing more makes things worse, so you unintentionally create a self-destructive system.

To break free of this, create small goals under your huge end goal. For instance, if the day's significant goal is writing a blog post, split it into smaller goals. Say you want to do 2 hours of writing in the morning and another 2 in the evening.

It doesn't pressure you to get the post done, but it pushes you to write for the allocated time.

7. Take a Break From Alcohol, Caffeine, and Comfort Products

It's human to want something that will make us forget we are burned out, and we look for an easy way out. We find ourselves resorting to coffee, cigars, alcohol, and the internet, just to name a few. While they might be good if used sparingly, you have a higher chance of becoming addicted to them as you search for a constant high.

They create more distractions in the workplace and destroy your relationship with coworkers and clients.

The Upshot

Each of the above activities is geared towards putting you in a positive mind space. You'll slowly start to feel like yourself again once you incorporate them, and the passion for your work will be reignited.

It's essential to control burnout before it controls you. Life is too short not to be in a space where we feel happy and fulfilled.

For more informational blogs to help you achieve a healthy work-life balance, please check out our other articles, or contact us today, and we'll be more than willing to assist.