Help! I am all dried up!
…excessive, prolonged stress…
For the past 23 months, I have been stressed, the feelings of stress come and go but there has always been an element of stress. This is not unexpected, I experienced a major loss and major gains almost simultaneously and I knew what to expect so I took care of my physical and emotional health.
But now 23 months later, I am in a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion, I am overwhelmed, drained, I feel like I am unable to meet demands.
Apparently, this is called BURN OUT and stems from excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when there are too many pressures that demand too much of us physically and mentally.
When we are burned out, our productivity reduces, everything we do saps our energy, we lose motivation, we are exhausted and drained all the time, we withdraw and isolate from our career, friends, and family. We have physical changes; headaches, muscle pain, lowered immunity which leads to more frequent colds and flu outbreaks.
Considering I have most (almost all) of these symptoms, and listening to Shake it Off by Taylor Swift was no longer bringing the excitement back, I decided to do some research on how to shake it off.
According to my findings, there are some day-to-day activities we can partake in, to take care of our physical, emotional, and mental health as well as reduce our stress
- Have a healthy diet
- Drink lots of water
- Exercise for at least 150 minutes a week (moderate activity)
- Sleep at least 8 hours
- Take vitamins
- Delegate
- Take time off
Now, I must confess I have been doing almost every activity on this list for the past 23 months. I eat a lot of brain food, I drink 6–8 glasses of water a day, I exercise 360 minutes a week, I sleep 8 hours and, I take all vitamins you can think of.
However, I am poor at delegating, I just feel like it is easier and faster if I do it myself. And I haven’t taken time off since September 2018. Hmm…
It does make sense, none of the things I do directly targets the core of the stress I go through daily.
The good thing about being burned out is that it is a gradual process and it is reversible. We are told to recognize burnout, reverse its damage by managing our stress and build resilience by taking care of our physical, emotional, and mental health.
I will keep you posted once I have mastered delegation and taken that overdue vacation.
Contact my research company, Versa Research, your trusted data, research & consulting partner!
References
https://www.verywellmind.com/stress-and-burnout-symptoms-and-causes-3144516
https://www.healthline.com/health/tips-for-identifying-and-preventing-burnout#takeaway
