Burnout

I would not say I am a workaholic. Far from it, actually. I do however, have days or even weeks when I have a load of work to do and I have to work 18 hour days. It’s not the healthiest way to live but most of us have periods when we are working pretty much round the clock with tight deadlines. Students have these days when they have exams and those of us who are working have them when there are some crazy deadlines to beat.

The last couple of months have been a blur for me. No, I have not been high on anything. Balancing between two startups as well as two blogs and other projects I’m involved in has proven to be exhausting. I do my best to delegate but even then, there’s still plenty of work to do and this leaves me just enough time to have a semblance of sleep. I’ve been going so hard that I got physically ill and I’ve been forced to slow down. Here are some signs that you need to slow down too if you’ve been working too hard lately.

1. Insomnia

You’ve been sleeping alright but all of a sudden you can hardly get any shuteye. Your mind is perpetually running and you can’t switch off. If you do fall asleep, you have nightmares or wake up still feeling tired. Even worse, is if you begin to rely on alcohol or sleeping pills to sleep.

2. Fatigue

You are always feeling tired. You sleep well enough but feel like you haven’t slept in days and even the smallest tasks become herculean tasks.

3. Trouble concentrating

You can hardly stay on track when working and drift off in meetings or in the middle of a conversation. This then leads to feelings of guilt and additional pressure as you end up falling behind on your work.

4. Bursts of anger

You get irritated by the way your colleague  smiles. The smallest things could trigger an outburst of anger and/or irritation.

5. Overindulgence in a vice

You are drinking more alcohol than usual or eating more that usual (especially junk) or drinking so much coffee you should be a coffee ambassador.

Stress is a normal part of life and gets us moving. We succeed in life by learning how to cope with stress. The issues begin when we are under more stress than is healthy and our physical and mental well-being is affected. I am definitely prioritizing my health and have begun to pull back on the work. It’s important to recognize that we can only do our best work when we are present.

Too much stress leads to burnout which can lead to serious conditions like depression and ulcers. It’s not worth it. Recognize your limits and stay within them. Get some help as well. Therapy is a great avenue to help manage your mental health. You work to live. You don’t live to work.

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I would not say I am a workaholic. Far from it, actually. I do however, have days or even weeks when I have a load of work to do and I have to work 18 hour days. It's not the healthiest way to live but most of us have...