that no job is worth your mental and physical health . While quitting should not be your first choice — especially because it isn ’ t wise to make big decisions during seasons of severe emotional stress — it should be considered if it is impossible to do your job without burnout continuing .
Connecting with a wise and experienced counselor who can monitor your health , connect you with a psychologist if medication is needed and be a safe place to talk about what causes you stress and how to move forward .
Do the hard work of looking at yourself and your situation to figure out the sources of stress and how they can be alleviated . Because , if you don ’ t address what ’ s ‘ broken down ’ in your current situation , your problems will follow you in the next job / role / career .
Take a break from the rat race . The amount of time you can take off from work will vary depending on your job , benefits , etc ., but you must take some time off . If you can take an extended vacation or sabbatical , even a medical leave of absence , do it . The hard part will be focusing on you , not work , during this time . Simple rest and nourishment can go a long way to finding yourself after burnout .
How can to burnout from happening again ? Learn how to deal with stress healthily , and make lots of room for good in your life . Once you have done the hard work of beginning to recover from burnout , the simplest way to prevent it from happening is to keep making these better choices . You got into burnout in part because of choices you made . You can get out of burnout by learning to make different , better choices . And you can stay out of burnout by continuing to make those choices , and growing in them .
You can shine and have joy once again . Burnout is the result of ongoing , increasing stress . It accumulated because of circumstances and choices . You can make different choices that , over time , will alleviate the stress and make you whole again .
Rachele Slotman graduated from Hope College with a degree in psychology and received her M . A . in Education in College Student Affairs Leadership from Grand Valley . She enjoys spending time with her family , playing games , cooking and doing house projects .
DALLAS COUNTY Living Well Magazine | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2017
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