How to prevent burnout

Burnout is a debilitating condition caused by excessive work and it’s been especially prevalent in the past year since the onset of the Covid crisis. Working from home has created an unhealthy work/life balance, where ‘the office’ was only a trip upstairs to the study and the commute ‘home’ was a trip to the couch.

 If you were an essential worker, you probably found your hours increasing as the public’s demand on essential services cranked up your workload (and the corresponding pressure).

Burnout can destroy your health, your marriage and friendships if left unchecked. Burnout is a ‘warning sign’ that can lead to greater damage further down the road if we don’t heed its warning and take decisive, corrective action.

Allowing yourself to come to terms with what’s wrong is one of the biggest challenges you face. It’s best to acknowledge the burnout for what it is, acknowledge its causes and move forwards, embracing the notion that it’s your responsibility to change.

The power to change lies in your hands.

And here’s the great news: Burnout is a condition widely acknowledged by psychologists to be reversible with lifestyle changes.

One of the best ways to reverse burnout and get men adopting a healthier work/life balance is to close the gap between what men can offer and what they’re pressuring themselves into giving.

Exercising discipline and asking yourself critical self-evaluative questions can reverse the effects of burnout in as little as one week. You might call it your burnout prevention journal.

Every week, take some time to sit and quietly reflect by answering the following questions.

1. Two words that best describe my week are:

2. Something I realised or learned this week was: and it changes:

3. The thing I found most challenging this week was: It was a challenge because:

4. My biggest win this week was:

5. Something I am proud of this week is:

6. Rate the following from 1 (low) to 10 (high): a. Effort – The effort I put into the week:

   b. Impact – I lived intentionally and productively: c. Energy – I managed my energy well:

7. Courage – I showed my real thoughts and feelings:

8. To make next week better than the last, I will:

9. My top three priorities next week are:

10. Things that might distract or stress me next week are: How I will manage this:

11. One personal quality that I must absolutely embody next week is: And what it will change is:

Doing this can help free you of your mental load (or some of it) and avoid some of the pitfalls that can lead to burnout.

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• best practice supporting dads mental load smart working