Stress and burnout go hand in hand. It’s like a boiling tea kettle that’s sitting on high heat (stress) on the stove, and running low on water that’s quickly evaporating as the seconds hand moves forward.
It’s only a matter of short time before the pot burns, and the kettle’s whistle dies.
We put ourselves in those type of pressure kettle situations in life by saying yes and taking action to give us results. But we can overwhelm ourselves when we say yes to too much, too often.
Your yes starts out as a healthy exercise, but over time you’ll run dry if you run out of steam.
…You add stress when you don’t add more water or life to your situations that you learn from. Like most, you’ve been learning since you were a child.
That’s when stress likely first showed up and started accumulating in the body keeping score.
Healing from those past memories is a healthy way toward your future.
And like most balanced areas of life, a little stress is healthy and human, like pursuing a one-and-done challenge for experience and growth, but when you tip the scales to a no-happy-situation-end in sight, that’s when it’s adding stress to the body in some way.
…And then there are situations happening around us that are out of control. Like daily world news or situations where we know they’re out there looming and impacting our lives… but we put the worry thoughts aside and we go about our daily life.
Those situations take a small daily toll on the mind-body even if we get out of that headspace for some time.
It’s like steam happening in the background that we know about, but don’t feel.
These type of daily stressors are part of life’s undercurrents and happenings.
But burnout is not. It’s applied to a specific area of life, that’s usually work… where overwhelm,or additional burdens worsen your situation.
Like lack of sleep from burning the midnight oil and the candle on both ends.
Then it’s just a matter of time before the fuse burns out and the body shows unwanted symptoms… where you aren’t your best you.
Burnout is no fun.
…Sometimes that takes 5 months, sometimes 5 years in an unhappy situation.
(And some symptoms can be gently restored through natural Ayurvedic ways from home).
You hear people saying the words “I’ll be doing this (or here) forever.” But that’s far from the truth as our energy runs out.
Some jobs have a shelf life or limited sustainability from the start. And all jobs have a timer.
That’s good to keep that in mind so you don’t fall into a burnout trap.
Nothing is forever, not even any of our fragile lives on earth. Earthly lives are limited and living stressed has a limit to the body.
It does no healthy good… and is a way to shorten the life span we’re given.
I was on that unhealthy trajectory, but changed course, and I can share a few ways to wisely navigate work stress so you can avoid…
Having worked in and out of corporate work management environments for two decades, I know from past experience how work can fuel stress and doctors visits for odd stressful body symptoms that show up…
That was long before I knew about the mind-body connection.
Those early testing years showed me stress through work blackouts to changing Blackberries (and outdated tech tools)… and massive layoffs, pivoting career paths, and the world frozen still in time from uncertainty.
Plus, high work demands that was like trying to squeeze a square peg into a smaller round hole that simply doesn’t work… whether the source was corporation-based, management-created, or culture shifts like tech changes all added up to the same final result.
I ended up somewhere else (and never regretted my initiated changes).
Stress in those cases was a sign that the job was not a good fit.
But in your case, it can also come from feeling overwhelmed with the amount or type of work that you’re not skilled yet to do, but are expected to know how to do with tools you’re still learning (like daily tide changing AI tools).
…Or coming from demands from other people. And mildly put, some people aren’t that skilled (yet) to manage others like a leader. And if we’re honest about it, that was us in the beginning learning the ropes and climbing our ladders.
Managing people is a skill most learn on the job, and get good at by the time closer to burning out than when you started. But the good news is you can use your people skill experiences in your next camp.
You become valuable because you’re super adaptable and know how to navigate rough waters. You’re not like Gumby, but more like Super Girl who’s tough and tender.
You fly when you need to and blend in grounded most the time.
You’re optimistic, and not idealistic.
…That was a hard lesson I learned. It suited my secondary Enneagram 1 idealistic ways. I wore rose colored glasses, thinking the next job would be better and “love what you do.”
The truth is you will love what you do when you do what you love that’s created by you on your terms.
In a paid job, none of that is fully on your terms. And in today’s competitive landscape, you need to do what’s asked or else someone else will step in.
And when you go in with crystal clear vision about why you’re there from that lens, you won’t be as disappointed (maybe frustrated) with the disconnected gap, when you realize that what you signed up for is not what you thought.
Being more aware helps you align your happiness.
Londoners call it: mind the gap.
It’s a myth that we can forever love our jobs working for others.
When you’re in your honeymoon or coasting periods, latch on like a carabiner to those joyful memories and embrace the ride until the next adventure starts.
And if you don’t love your job today, remember that it won’t be your last one. Today you’re gaining experiences that you’ll need for your next one.
One thing you can practice where you are, is changing how your handle stress.
You can start by giving your stress factor a deadline, like you do with work deadlines. Name the stress and define when it will end (that’s no more than a few months away, which can help you figure out a better way). Mark it on a calendar.
This releases some stress feelings today. Kinda like when you resign a job and feel the work weight burden on your shoulders lifted, even when you’re still there.
And this does your mind-body a world of good in the moment you do that.
Picture yourself on the bright sunny side of it all.
And if it’s hard to see the forest through the trees now because you’re overwhelmed and too busy, you’re not alone.
But get alone so you can get that clear headspace to de-stress and figure out how you will navigate your stress end goal.
Also, finding spiritual growth in your time-off is a good use of time. Instead of trying to go further and reaching limits, go higher!
Look up to the moon and stars where there are endless possibilities. compared to looking down at the edge of the cliff, that you know leads to the ground.
And when moments are tougher and you’re stressed, get peace, and quiet time on your yoga mat just breathing new air, doing balance work, and gentle yoga poses. This is a way you can turn to, that helps release stress, tension, and anxiety.