• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
The Fit Habit
  • Food
    • Low Carb Breakfast
    • Low Carb Lunch
    • Low Carb Dinners
    • Low Carb Side Dish
    • Soup Recipes
    • Low Carb Snacks
    • Low Carb Treats
    • Healthy Recipes
  • Wellness
    • Burnout Recovery
      • How to Recover from Burnout
      • Best Self Journaling
      • Emotional Freedom Technique
    • Weight Loss
      • My Weight Loss Story
      • How to Become Fat Adapted
    • Mindset & Habits
      • Habit Mastery
      • Mindset
  • Workouts
    • Try a Free Home Workout
      • 6 Weeks of the Work | An Advanced Workout For Extreme Results
      • Barre Blend | A Sample Workout You Can Do Anywhere
      • 9 Week Control Freak 28 Minute Sample Workout
    • Beachbody Workouts
    • Yoga
    • Running
    • Strength Training Workouts
    • Barre Workouts
    • All Workouts
  • Programs
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Beachbody Workouts
  • Weight Loss Over 40
  • Coaching
  • About The Fit Habit
  • Recipes
  • Low Carb Breakfast Ideas
  • Low Carb Lunch
  • Low Carb Dinners
  • Low Carb Desserts
  • Low Carb Drink Recipes
  • Low Carb Side Dish
  • Low Carb Snacks
  • Sauces and dips
  • Most Popular Recipes
  • Let's Connect!

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Be Happier » How to Prevent Burnout Before it Happens

    How to Prevent Burnout Before it Happens

    Published: Jul 28, 2019 · Last Modified: Oct 20, 2020 by Caren · This post may contain affiliate links

    21 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    This year, burnout has been a topic of discussion in my world, more often than I'd like to admit.  If you've been feeling like you're heading for a crash and burn, these tools and techniques might help prevent burnout before it happens.

     

    How do you know if you're burnt out?

    The symptoms are clear, but we're not always aware of them before we've suffered for a while.  Burnout is the result of chronic stress around an external circumstance or a persistent belief.

    It's a messy cocktail of exhaustion (physical and mental) and numbness that leaves you feeling cynical, bitter while deep down experiencing a deep sense of ineffectiveness or lack of accomplishment.

    Because burnout can often feel so overwhelming, we tend to buffer by detaching from life.  Over time, this can lead to more serious mental issues, so catching it early is really helpful.

    What Causes Burnout?

    Burnout is caused by pushing too hard, typically in work situations, but it can also be personal - especially if you're serving others 24/7 and generally not taking care of your own needs (<-hello moms, I'm talking to you).

    Personally I think burnout is derived from a lack of choice or control (real or perceived) in our lives. Work can be stressful for anyone, but if we have autonomy to take the gas off the petal when we need to, it doesn't have to crush us. Same thing goes in our personal life.

    Sometimes we just need to call a timeout or take a mental health day to get our head is screwed on again. But if you don't feel like you have the power or autonomy to do that, you're going to run into a brick wall because you see no alternative.

    A feeling of lack of control can also come in the form of efforting towards a goal where you just never see results.  Whether that's working hard on a business that never grows or being so diligent with a diet, but never seeing the scale budge.  When we feel like we're failing and nothing we do makes a difference, that learned helplessness will eventually lead to burnout.

    Prevent burnout by slowing down. Click to Tweet

    How Choice and Control Prevents Burnout

    It's clear that the more choice and control you have over your life, the less likely you are to run into the proverbial brick wall. The interesting thing, is that very often we have more control over our choices than we think we do, but because of mental conditioning, we can't access it.

    It's just like the baby elephant that thinks it's tethered to a stake in the ground - it's perception and not reality that keeps us from making different choices.

    So, if choice and control is the antidote to burnout, but we don't feel like we have it, what can we do?

    How to Prevent Burnout when you don't have control?

    Slow down.

    A perceived lack of control is often based on a false awareness or reactive belief because we're not consciously choosing our reactions and decisions in the moment. We're so conditioned to live on autopilot where our choices are not in our line-of-sight.

    Do you ever wonder why yogis and mediators are so happy and at peace? It's not because they have different circumstances than the rest of us. It's because they live in the moment and meet circumstances as they arise. Then rather than being reactive, they pause to see all the choices they have in the moment.

    This might look like choosing not to binge eat when feeling lonely, or choosing not to buy yet another pair of shoes when what we really need is a hug and a good night's sleep.

    What's the Most Effective Way to Slow Down?

    Meditate.

    There's a TON of good reasons for maintaining a meditation practice, but this is by far my biggest "why" factor. I feel so much more aware of my choices and actions since starting a consistent meditation practice.

    I see it in subtle little moments of awareness where I have the space to ask myself "do I really need this right now?" or "is there a better way to feel about this situation?". When I do this, I feel more empowered and less helpless, even when I don't have a ton of control or choices.

    Meditation & Preventing Burnout

    Meditation is a powerful happiness tool and it's 100% free.

    Now, certainly there are a lot of other ways to improve your sense of control and choice in your life.   Money, time, support and resources are all wonderful things that can add to your sense of peace and happiness.  However, they can also lead to more complexity, drama and expectation, so they will not necessarily save you from yourself!

    Developing awareness and staying present to make conscious choices is the only way to truly manage yourself and avoid driving yourself into the proverbial brick wall.

    An Easy Way to Start Meditating

    If you're feeling burned out, give meditation a try. I recommend starting with a short, guided practice of no more than 10 minutes. Even 2 minutes is better than no minutes. Check out Insight Timer or Headspace. These are two great (and free) apps that are perfect for beginners.

    Hope that helps!

    Looking for other ways to prevent burnout?

    Gain more control in your life with these strategies:

    • Start future-self journaling.  It's a powerful tool for change.
    • How to change what you believe about yourself
    • How to get what you want by not wanting it.
    • How I healed myself from personal and professional burnout.
    Caren

    Caren is a certified yoga teacher, fitness instructor and ADHD Coach.  As the founder of The Fit Habit, she shares ADHD-friendly self-care, food & fitness inspiration, along with practical ways to foster mind + body wellness.

    « What you believe creates your reality.
    The power of self-acceptance & resolving limiting beliefs »

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Caren

    I'm an ADHD coach & wellness expert with a mind that runs faster than a quick-dry nail polish. I have figured out how to master my ADHD brain through fitness, healthy eating and self-care and I get a thrill out of helping other women like me, do the same. You may or may not have ADHD, but somewhere after 40, most of us end up wondering why our jeans are tight and our brains are foggier than summer in San Francisco. If that's you, I'm here to help. Welcome!

    Let's Connect!

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • YouTube

    Keep the positive Momentum going

    The best way to stay on track with your wellness + life goals is to keep the reminders and inspiration flowing. Let me help you with that.

    We're in this together, my friend.

    The Best in At Home Workouts

    andrea rogers XB Pilaties

    BOD vs BODi - What's the difference + $$?

    extend barre beachbody

    The Best Beachbody (BODI) Workouts in 2022

    xb pilates founder doing pilates

    XB Pilates Before + Afters (I'm in love)

    woman's before and after of sure thing

    Beachbody's Sure Thing - Sample Workout, Before & After

    extend barre beachbody

    Beachbody's Xtend Barre Review + Sample Workout

    women with wellness app

    The BEST Fitness Apps For Women (That I Use Daily)

    Want more blog posts? →

    Footer

    As Seen In

    • About The Fit Habit
    • Disclaimer & Privacy Statement

    Keep the positive momentum going

    Stay on track with your fitness + wellness goals.

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Services
    • Media Kit
    • FAQ

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021

    21 shares