How To Avoid Burnout With These Simple Self-Care Tips

Are you feeling stressed or overwhelmed? If so, I’m gonna give you some simple tips on how to avoid burnout. 

Believe it or not, I actually came close to burnout recently!! 

I know, I know, I teach self-care, I should be one of the last people to burnout!! 

So how did this happen?? 

Well, I set myself some pretty big goals and while I started working towards them my self-care took a back seat.

It was a big lesson for me because I usually put my self-care first. It really showed me how important it is to look after yourself! 

I mean I already knew this but being close to burnout reminded me of the effect of stress can have on your life. 

It ripples out into every part of your life. 

I became emotional like I cried when someone asked me if I was ok (that’s a sure-fire way to know your NOT ok!)

I felt frustrated with the smallest things, it felt like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong!! 

I was exhausted, like that kind of tired where it’s nearly physically impossible to get out of bed.

My whole body ached, especially my upper back, I felt the tension so bad!! 

Everything just felt hard.

Luckily I noticed the signs and did something about it before I actually burnt myself out completely!! 

So what are the signs you need to look out for to avoid burnout? 

1. Feeling frustrated and irritable 
2. Sleep problems 
3. Feeling overwhelmed 
4. Physical symptoms, such as achy body 
5. Exhaustion 
6. Working too much and little self-care 
7. Being overly negative 
8. Overstimulation 

Getting Enough Quality Sleep

Quality sleep is the most important thing you need to avoid burnout. 

This was a major contributor to my near burnout.  

I wasn’t sleeping well, in fact, I wasn’t getting to sleep until about 3 am. This went on for over 2 weeks! 

So when you are feeling exhausted, the first thing you need to do is focus on improving your sleep!!

Create a sleep routine and make sure you aren’t doing anything that is stressful before bed. Make time to switch off and yes this includes your phone!!

Get Regular Exercise

Regular exercise will help relieve stress and tension. Exercise is essentially self-care, it’s needed in order for us to live a happy and balanced life. 

If we are overworking ourselves and forgetting the essentials, such as exercise and healthy eating, our bodies can’t cope. 

We hold tension and stress in our bodies, exercise is needed to release this tension. I believe we need to do exercise every day, even if it’s only 10 minutes a day!! 

Our bodies were designed to move and not only does it help with burnout but it also helps improve our mental health!!

If you’re looking for inspiration, check out Adriene’s Movement Medicine Yoga video here.

Taking Regular Breaks

So going back to my story, where I nearly burnout, the thing is I wasn’t taking ANY breaks. I was sitting at my laptop for hours, sometimes all day. 

I had so much to do and I just wanted to keep going!! 

But this way getting me nowhere, I couldn’t focus and my work was suffering but instead of taking breaks, I carried on because I just wanted to get things done!!

Now I have a much more structured day, I plan everything out and this includes my breaks!! 

Slow Down

This was the biggest lesson for me because I was taking on too much. In the end, I made the decision that if it takes me longer to achieve my goals, then so be it.

Like there is no point burning yourself out to achieve something because you will never get to enjoy it. 

There is also the risk that by working yourself too hard, you will crash and it won’t be sustainable. You will end up having to take time off to recover and this in itself will slow your success down. 

It can be easy to look at others success and think they got there overnight. But this is rarely the case. Most of the time we don’t see the years they have worked on something before they become successful. 

So just know it is ok to slow down, trust in the process and look after yourself first!! 

Take Regular Time Off

It’s also important to take time off, as well as taking regular breaks! Working from home I find it so tempting to just keep working every day!!

I find that sometimes I work every day and don’t really take enough time off! 

Having days where you don’t work and get out and live life is so important. 

Don’t push yourself too hard!! 

Think about what you want your life to look like when you get this success your working towards? Does it include working every day?? 

I highly doubt it!! 

So have a work schedule and include regular days off!! 

Plan Some Self-care

Yep, we need self-care in our lives in order to avoid burnout. There are many things I try to do in my day to make sure I’m looking after myself. 

Here are some examples of self-care ideas:

1. Meditation
2. Breathing exercises 
3. Do some Yoga or stretching
4. Going for walks 
5. Forgiveness work 
6. EFT
7. Drinking water 
8. Making healthy meals
9. Reading a great book
10. Take a long hot bath 
11. Dancing to some upbeat music
12. Seeing friends 
13. Sing your heart out
14. Taking time off your phone
15. Saying affirmations 
16. Write a gratitude list
17. Journaling – Check out my Journaling challenges HERE
18. Declutter a space in your house
19. Set your intentions
20. Visualise your dreams coming true
21. Listening to your favourite music
22. Go out for a coffee or tea
23. Create a vision board
24. Give yourself a face massage
25. Do a HIIT workout
26. Create an altar or space to do meditations
27. Make a special breakfast
28. Take yourself out for a date
29. Do something creative, like painting or artwork
30. Create a new Pinterest vision board
31. Light some candles
32. Have a pamper evening
33. Give yourself a manicure
34. Give yourself a pedicure
35. Write yourself a love letter
36. Create a new playlist
37. Watch a feel-good movie
38. Make your own body scrubs and bath bombs
39. Do a face mask
40. Go for a massage
41. Buy yourself some flowers
42. Buy your favourite magazine
43. Dry brush your skin
44. Use some essential oils
45. Listen to a self-help audiobook -get a FREE audiobook HERE
46. Meditate in nature
47. Go for a bike ride
48. Do some gardening or plant some seeds
49. Say NO to something you don’t want
50. Hinch your house

So pick up some self-care ideas that you love and make you feel amazing and start scheduling them into your life!!

So that’s my tips to help you avoid burnout. Let me know in the comments below about the ways that help you stay balanced in your life.

Big love