If you are burning the candle at both ends, sooner or later it’s going to catch up with you. That’s reality. No matter how passionate you are about your business, no matter your level of drive to succeed, if you push too hard for too long you will experience burnout.If you feel like you’re on the ragged edge, here are 10 tips to help you avoid flaming out:
- Exercise – If you’re too busy to exercise, try laying in a hospital bed for several weeks! The body is like a machine, and that machine requires maintenance. Exercise has a tremendous host of benefits, among them fighting depression and fatigue. Don’t make exercise an item on your to-do list; if you do, it will get replaced by something “more important” that pops up. Make exercise a habit. Make it part of your weekly routine.
- Mind your diet – Your body cannot function at a high level when you’re giving it poor quality fuel. Eat healthy meals and snacks. Even if you have zero health issues, eating healthy will pay dividends. Try to avoid eating fast food. When you work long hours, it may be tempting to grab something on the go - DON’T DO IT! Plan your meals and meal prep on the weekends if you have to, but avoid junk food.
- Rest – You eat, sleep and breathe your business – I get it. However, if you put in long hours and don’t rest properly, you will experience burn out. Try to get extended periods of uninterrupted rest. Do not sleep on the couch in your office if you can help it. Go home or somewhere calm and quiet and allow your brain and body to rest and recover.
- Take time off – This is a tough one! The hardest thing, as a business owner, is to take time off to get away and rest. However, this can pay huge dividends for your business, because it gives you time to decompress and think about your business without the pressing concerns of the day. It enables you to work on your business instead of constantly working in your business.
- Learn to delegate – When you own a business, it can be hard to give up control. You pour your blood, sweat and tears into building a business and the last thing you want is to give up control. However, the more you can delegate to responsible parties, the freer you are to work on more value-added activities that drive your business forward.
- Avoid “Time Sucks” – When you have a to-do list that’s longer than your arm, distractions mean death to your productivity. One of the biggest is social media. You click on your social media account to check one business-related thing, and the next thing you know it’s two hours later and you haven’t accomplished anything. If you struggle with this, there are apps that you can load on your phone (and other devices) that limit the time you spend on social media.
- Insist on work / life balance – In a 24/7/365 hyper-connected world, it can be hard to unplug, but you should insist on time for things like family, exercise, rest, time off, etc. When clients or employees call, let them know you’re busy with family (or other obligations) and that you’ll call them back at a specific time. This will help you regain control and train your employees and clients to respect your personal time.
- Get efficient – When you get busy, sometimes you can feel too rushed to take the time to work on improving your efficiency. The analogy would be the lumberjack who is too busy chopping wood to sharpen his ax. Try implementing systems that make you more efficient. Explore ideas such as zero inbox and Kanban-based to-do lists like Trello. Take time on a weekend evening to plan your week. Work on your calendar and to-do lists to organize and prioritize your life.
- Get a mentor – One of the best ways to avoid burnout is finding someone who has already done what you are trying to do. Acquire a mentor who can help you prioritize and keep focused on the important strategies, while not being over burdened with mundane tasks. A good mentor can help you avoid going down rabbit holes that are inconsequential to your success and remind you of what is important.
- Keep Learning – One surefire way to avoid burnout is to feel you are achieving success. One way to do this is to keep evolving and learning new things. Read often. Take classes. Don’t be overly concerned about how what you’re learning will benefit your business. Just know that if learning something benefits you, it’s benefiting the business because it helps you stay positive and engaged.
Do you have tips you use to avoid burnout? We’d love to hear from you on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.
