Scenario –1. You just got your dream job after graduation, or if you are already working, you get a new project, something that makes you want to get out of your bed every morning to come to work – and perform. You sip you favorite Starbucks caramel coffee and make it happen at work every single day with full motivation, gusto and vigor.
Scenario-2. While you are enjoying your work, you tend to worry a bit too much about your promotion and reputation in front of your boss even on the weekends, when there is possibly no such work, but you are living in that zone where you constantly have to outwork everyone else to be on the top position of metrics defined by your boss for your much-awaited promotion or recognition. For all you know, you are already getting consumed by exhaustion – mentally and physically.
So while we all love scenario 1 – and we always hope that it lasts – then why do we subtly transition to scenario 2 knowing that we can straddle between our personal life and work life?
Well, if you feel that all work and no play can make you the top performer of your company, then your opinion is little skewed towards the myth of workoholism. You feel the more you work all the time, the more money you make – which to an extent, looking at from a simple equation of the more you give the more you get (in terms of hard work), is true.
But if you really want to give your 100% at work and make sure you sustain at it with a renewed focus, you need to avoid the below signs of getting burned out at work.
Sign 1. You are mojoless. Ironic, right? You get your dream job – and you’re mojoless? Reason: you tirelessly keep thinking about your job and its importance in your life. Result: Most of your hard work goes into constantly ironing out the possibilities and impact of your job on your life. And you get mentally fatigued – to an extent that makes you tired even when you not supposed to be. With some days passing by, you also tend to get irritated by small little torments of the day – which over a period of time doesn’t give you a mental kick to work in your role with that same motivation.
Cure: Define your priorities in order of its relevance and significance for a meaningful life. Look for meaning in your job – by meaning I mean the little contributions and impact you make in your career that gives you satisfaction. While work life balance is not noticeable, but you can always synthesize the happy quotient of your job, which you get by infusing meaning and reveling in your little but definite wins with your personal life. This will give you a holistic perspective about the meaning of work and living your life in a winning way while being mojo-packed for your day at work.
Sign 2. You don’t get proper sleep. Have you ever experienced getting up in the middle of the night because of some stroke of anxiety or panic about your work? You are not alone. Our work has now become our life – and worrying about your latest project task, or managing a team to achieve a milestone, only tends to linger on your mind – even when you are with your family. Why because you feel in your subconscious mind to outperform everyone else. And that pressure to perform or perish slowly gets on you like a mental tax, which you have to pay via your performance and a perfectionist way of thinking.
Cure: Do a digital detox a least once in a week – preferable a Sunday. When our minds are constantly entangled with e-mails, a never ending inbox and more to-do lists’ notifications, we go harried. The only panacea to get a good night sleep is to go for a 30-45 minutes’ walk in the morning. This will give you a happy feeling and put you to bed in a good sleep. Appreciate the beautiful nature that surrounds you and practice mindfulness – an awareness of your purpose will give you renewed energy and perspective every day! To know more about stillness and mindfulness, you can visit Michael Hyatt’s post here.
Sign 3. Monotony sets in your lifestyle. Oh you get up in the morning, you stare at your clock – and you don’t want to go to work. You have this entire agenda that feels like a never-ending to-do list. Though, of course, that list may practically not be so long, but the thought of considering it as a drudge and not as something you look forward to do makes you sulk.
Cure: Engage in what fuels you apart from work. It could be writing, cooking, gardening, shopping or even reading your favorite Sherlock Holes or an Agatha Christie novel. Get better by feeling better about your choices in life. Sameness of work can make you reach a rock-bottom of unproductivity. So make it interesting by infusing some blocks of your time in your calendar into things that you love doing apart from work.
This way, your work day will never be the same. And even if you feel these signs are getting at you, you can always treat them with the panacea that you know now.
Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
