Take Care of Yourself

Are you exhausted? Cynical? Lacking enthusiasm? Feeling or becoming inefficient? Frustrated? Losing sleep? Fatigued? You may be experiencing burnout, a type of psychological stress that back stem from a lack of control, conflict, lack of reward, loss, or trying to do too much too soon. There are several dimensions of burnout, including overload, lack of development, and neglect.

A couple of psychologists, Freuenberger and North, split burnout into twelve phases. Not everyone follows the phases in order, but they're a good way to check yourself for burnout.

• The Compulsion to Prove Yourself: needing to be the best, to the point of being a detriment. 
• Working Harder: setting excessively high personal expectations
• Neglecting Your Needs: cutting back on food, sleep, quality time with friends and family, or hobbies.
• Displacement of Conflicts: inability to see the course of the problem
• Revision of Values: holding work or other project higher than previously important values, such as friends and family
• Denial of Emerging Problems: becoming increasingly aggressive, sarcastic, and unsocial and blaming it on other pressures
• Withdrawl: isolation
• Obvious Behavior Changes: others seeing noticible problems in your life
• Depersonalization: not seeing themselves and others as valuable
• Inner Emptiness: feeling nothing and possibly using unhealthy mechanisms such as alcohol and eating to cope
• Depression: losing meaning and direction in life; feeling hopeless
• Burnout Syndrome: physical and emotional collapse

It's easier to combat burnout before you reach full-fledged burnout syndrome, so take care of yourself now! The majority of burnout cases are related to how you deal with stress. Learn to breathe, pick up a hobby, have a great bedtime ritual, take a walk, and make sure you are setting up your diet for success.