By Brigid Monda

Are you one of those people who often don’t get a full night’s sleep, eats on the run or skips meals, drinks endless cups of coffee, smokes a pack of cigarettes a day and leaves no time for exercise?

Do you dread getting up to go to work when the clock goes off, even though you actually love what you do? Is all your energy and excitement gone lately?

Do you feel tired and get irritated over minor incidents? If the answer is yes, then you may be headed for a ‘burnout’.

Burnout has no precise medical definition but those who suffer it are fatigued, lack their usual enthusiasm and suffer helplessness and hopelessness.

It is caused by unrelieved stress, day after day, month after month, year after year; when your life is ‘all work and no play’.

It drains your energy leaving you emotionally exhausted, lacking job satisfaction, isolated and negative, dissatisfied and pessimistic.

When you feel overwhelmed, exhausted and low on energy, it is time to take a break and refuel. Photo/Martin Mukangu/Standard

It’s debilitating to otherwise healthy, energetic and competent individuals and increases absenteeism and inefficiency at work.

Both men and women are prone to burnout and are those who are ablaze with high goals and ideals, constantly on the go, frantically moving from one deadline to another. They are perfectionists, idealists and workaholics, and are always hard on themselves.

They carry their workload to unrealistic levels and are driven to succeed — the more they succeed, the more they have to do and the less time they have to plan, think or relax.

They soon get overwhelmed and exhaustion sets in; the pressure builds up and they are unable to carry on as the cracks begin to show.

People prone to burnout tend to abuse their bodies with impunity but you cannot get away with this indefinitely because payback time will inevitably come, and, pretty soon, your body will not take any more of the stress.

Never ignore the signs of a burnout. Instead, acknowledge it and mend your ways.

Food: Hungry people cannot work at all. For example, not eating breakfast is like mini-starvation because by the time you wake up, your body shall have used up most of the energy it has and it does not have a self-perpetuating source of fuel. You have to provide it with what it needs to work properly.

Exercise: With increasingly heavy wallets come the cars and the gadgets that make life so much easier and so much more sedentary.

Our bodies turn to fat and our risk of conditions like heart disease increase. Exercise benefits both the body and mind, reducing stress, increasing stamina and making the person more alert and energised.

Sleep: Sleepy people produce shoddy work because sleeping less than what your body needs will make you irritable and prone to mistakes. Your output will be of less quality than if you had had a good night’s sleep. Your brain needs time out.

Talk about it: People who are totally alienated are troubled people.

We are all dependent on emotional support from other people. Share your feelings and concerns with someone close. This helps release some of the tension.

Take a break: We all need time off from our jobs whether you are the CEO or the secretary of the company or whether you are self-employed.

Go on vacation to remove yourself completely from the work scene and do not think or talk about your job while you are off. Learn to relax. Try yoga, massage therapy, tai chi, breathing techniques, aromatherapy, and meditation.

Jot it down: Set aside time each day to write about your thoughts, hopes, fears and dreams. Just putting your thoughts down on paper in a diary or journal can help ease your mind and keep you focused.

Laughter: Humour is a powerful antidote to stress. Seeing the lighter side of things helps put things in perspective.

Prioritise: Even the tasks of daily living can seem overwhelming when you are stressed.

Step back and prioritise by creating an ‘absolute yes’ list and concentrate on one task at a time.

Postpone activities that are not absolutely necessary and learn to say no to protect your free time. Do not be a control freak — delegate and ask for help when you need it.

Leave your job at the office: You may accomplish more by working at home because there aren’t as many interruptions as in the office, but working all night at home and staying all day in the office means all you do in life is work.

Leave work at a decent time everyday and do not carry work home.

Keep the faith: Many people find that their faith is a great comfort. They rely on prayer as well as other spiritual activities to help relieve stress.