Holidays Will Not Fix Your Work Burnout
I often hear people say, “I just need a holiday”, as a magical cure for work stress and feelings of burnout. Spoiler, it won’t. Here’s why.
Work stress is usually from a series of chronically repeating systemic problems that affect your day-to-day. When you get back from work, they will still be there. Give it a day, and you’re back to burnout street.
So a holiday can clear your head, but it won’t solve the problem. If this is you, here are some steps you can take at work right now to address your burnout:
- Schedule your lunch break in your calendar if you haven’t already.
- Schedule padding between meetings (at least 15 minutes every hour) to rest your brain and eyes and move your body. Go for a walk. Meditate.
- Book time in your calendar for async work - reading emails, checking Slack, and deep thinking. This is work. Book it in.
- Empower yourself to say no. If your to-do list is massive, tame it asap. You can’t do everything; if your boss expects you to, it’s time to set boundaries. Or leave.
- Remove Slack and email from your phone at the end of the day. Or, ideally, don’t have it there at all.
- Tame your Slack notifications and emails. Get it under control; it’s background stress you don’t need.
Your homework is to pick the 2 of these that seem the most achievable for you and action them straight away. Then come back for the rest.
