Chronic stress without recovery depletes energy reserves, undermines performance and ultimately leads to burnout and breakdown. So what’s the solution?
We need routines that promote recovery from stress because the problem is not stress itself but the absence of disciplined, intermittent recovery.
Many of us struggle to relax. Often taking time to rest and recover can feel like laziness, and the more aligned you are with our work, the more wasteful time off starts to feel, so you don’t do it, yet it’s rituals and routines that promote the oscillation between rhythmic stress and recovery that are exactly what’s needed to prevent burnout.
Think of it like this. In sports science, there is a phenomenon known as super compensation which is key to increasing physical strength—essentially the creation of balanced work-rest ratios. In weight lifting, this involves stressing a muscle to the point where its fibres literally start to break down. But, given an adequate period of recovery (typically at least 48 hours), the muscle will not only heal, it will grow stronger. But persist in stressing the muscle without rest and the result will be acute and chronic damage.
So in terms of stress, unless we intersperse periods of stress with periods of rest and recovery, it depletes our energy reserves and leads to burnout.
So whilst inserting mandatory protocols that restore your energy might feel hard or even a waste of time, if you start to adopt these sooner rather than later, you will actually go further; as a result, your performance will improve, you’ll feel happier, more engaged, more fulfilled and you’ll prevent yourself from burning out.
So which of these mistakes are you making that are preventing you from getting adequate rest and recovery, physically, mentally and emotionally?
If you’re not prioritising your sleep you’re very likely not getting enough of it. When I was on the burnout continuum, sleep was the last thing I thought about and the first thing I sacrificed in order to meet my demands and deadlines. But good sleep is critical because it is a major source of our physical energy that forms the foundation of energy generation.
Not only does a lack of sleep put our body into a state of stress, ramping up our levels of stress hormones, adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol, but it also impacts our emotional energy and mental energy. Think of it like this, when you’re tired, you’re much more likely to struggle with negative emotions such as anger and frustration. How often have you been snappy after a lack of sleep? What’s more, a lack of sleep impairs our cognitive performance (mental energy) including memory, ability to focus, your decision-making capacity and learning ability.
Everyone I have worked with who has suffered from burnout has not been prioritising their sleep and this has undoubtedly pushed them further and further towards burnout. Don’t make this mistake.
It might seem obvious but many people just aren’t doing it.
I always ask this during workshops, and I’m still surprised at just how many people admit to not taking their annual leave.
Work is busy, we have many projects on the go and we think we just need to plough on because it’s “not the right time” when it’s exactly the time when you need a break.
Annual leave needs to be a mandatory protocol and I recommend total resets where you take a holiday, and that means a complete break from work, every 8-12 weeks because this is going to help you recover from stress, rebuild your energy and help you perform better.
Burnout is characterised by emotional exhaustion, you have no emotional capacity or emotional energy.
Positive emotions ignite emotional energy and this drives high performance, whereas negative emotions – frustration, anger, fear, resentment and sadness – drain emotional energy. Over time these negative emotions become toxic affecting us at a biological level and crippling our performance because we are not only more reactive but a lack of emotional energy negatively impacts our mental capacity. When you are full of negative emotions, it’s much harder to remain engaged and focused.
Close relationships are one of the most powerful means for promoting positive emotions and effective recovery. Think back to a happy family union or an evening with good friends and the sense of security and energy these times induced. And these emotions feed into your performance! But too often, in order to perform up to the expectations at work, we stint on time with loved ones but this is a big mistake.
By regularly topping up your emotional energy through quality time with those closest to you, you will perform better at work and help prevent the emotional exhaustion characteristic of burnout. So do it!
