5 Ways to Prevent Work Burnout After Summer Vacation

Now that Labor Day has come and gone, you can be honest—are you dreading being back at work after summer vacation?

Perhaps you are finding yourself less interested in your day-to-day than you used to be (even in areas you are passionate about!) and wondering what’s going on. You might be teetering on the edge of work burnout, or even over the edge.

What is work burnout?

Often in the nonprofit sector, you are working on solving complex problems with very limited resources. In that context, it’s natural to have highs and lows. There are times when you are excited to see the impact you’ve made. Other times, you might feel frustrated with the lack of funding or the limits of your work, or suffering from compassion fatigue.

Work burnout is when you are consistently feeling negative, exhausted, or stressed about your job. Coupled with declining interest in activities you used to care about, you can soon find your job performance, and your relationships, suffering.

Maybe you find that you are tuning out of meetings. Or sitting in front of your keyboard distracted rather than researching or writing. Where has my motivation gone? you wonder.

We all suffer from occasional difficulties staying excited about our jobs, especially when we're dealing with a challenging piece of work. If you find yourself feeling more pessimistic, less motivated, and all around tired, you might be experiencing work burnout.

OK, I get it—that could be me. What’s the good news?

There are simple things you can do now to help prevent feelings of burnout, or to reverse the trend if you are already experiencing it. Also, you’ll perform better once you re-work your days to have more exciting, restorative, and generative time.

Here are five things you can do to beat work burnout and start feeling better:

Pay attention to negative feelings

You’re feeling on edge—whatever your boss says in a meeting, your client says on the phone, or even the printer jamming (again!) soon becomes a huge problem that ruins your day. When you’re feeling burnt out, it’s easy to blame everything, and everyone, else. Ultimately, though, it’s your energy that’s getting sapped, so instead of playing the blame game, pay attention to what you're feeling and why.

Carry a journal so you can write down what you observe: What happened? How did you feel? Why? Then look these entries over. Think through what could be a more constructive approach to each situation. What was really making you react? Had you gotten the restorative time you needed going into the situation?

For example, take the printer jamming. Write down what you did just before you needed to print and where were you headed. If you were doing a last-minute printout of materials for a meeting that you didn't even want to go to (after a night of only five hours of sleep), that state is going to contribute to your frustration skyrocketing.

Then, start thinking about what conditions you might be able to change.

Can you see if the team is up for cutting meeting times and handling some of the work via e-mail? Can everyone bring their own copy of the materials? How could you shift your evening routine to get to bed an hour earlier? Start to look for patterns in what you record and use the other suggestions here to shift your approach.

Figure out what’s urgent and what’s not

We have lots of technology now that makes us feel like we need to respond immediately. The truth is, it’s a rare situation where we can’t wait until the time of day that we’ve set aside for that type of task. So think through your true priorities and plan out your day managing those first—especially the work that you are most excited about! Then fit in the more administrative tasks in the remaining time.

Give your brain a break

In order to do your best work, your brain actually needs regular breaks. Pay attention to when you feel the most energized (during the morning? after lunch?) and plan to tackle your most involved tasks during those times.

Before switching tasks or projects, allow yourself a 15-minute break to go for a walk, make a snack, read a book, etc. The workplace's sense of urgency can be overwhelming when you are doing mission-driven work, but if you aren’t caring for yourself first, you won’t be able to work toward the change you want to see in the world.

Revisit your support structure

Who are the people you have felt most positive around? How long has it been since you connected with them? Consistently finding ways to connect with people who bring positive energy into your life rejuvenates you, and can nip work burnout right in the but.

Take the time to think through which of your co-workers help you feel most excited about the work you are doing; then, for opportunities to work with them! Remember that networking is community building. So you can actually advance your career while growing your support structure. Of course, think through the support you need from your personal relationships, too.

Rekindle old passions and find new ones

Think back to hobbies that you enjoyed in the past, or to activities you’ve wanted to try. Have you been making time for them lately? Get on the mountain bike. Write in your journal. Bonus points: find a supportive group to reinforce your commitment. Join a book club. Hunt down a ceramics class.

At the end of the day, avoiding work burnout comes down to finding work-life balance. We are not machines, and we can’t always have our switches turned “on.” Each of us needs deep and frequent opportunities of restoration in order to do our best work.

Only you know what kind of activities are most restorative for you. Make space for them. Not just once in a while, but every week. In small ways, every day. The time you spend restoring will pay back tenfold in your happiness and your performance.