Here's how you can bounce back from burnout and reignite your career.
Burnout can sneak up on you, leaving you feeling exhausted, disengaged, and unproductive. But don't lose hope! By leveraging your emotional intelligence, you have the power to overcome this state and rejuvenate your career. Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions as well as those of others. It's a critical skill for personal and professional resilience. Now, let's explore how you can use this skill to bounce back from burnout and reignite your passion for work.
Recognizing that you're experiencing burnout is the first step toward recovery. You might notice symptoms like chronic fatigue, irritability, or a lack of satisfaction from accomplishments. By acknowledging these feelings without judgment, you're employing emotional self-awareness, a key component of emotional intelligence. This self-awareness allows you to understand the root causes of your burnout and sets the stage for addressing them effectively.
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Denee Choice MD, MMM
The Leadership Doctor 🩺 | Helping women leaders in medicine own their authentic leadership voice so they can live and lead with confidence and clarity | Healthcare Leadership Consultant | Executive Coach | Author
In my experience, burnout can creep up on you. We live such busy lives and deal with a baseline level of chronic stress to such an extent that we often normalize it. Be aware that it is a slippery slope. When your "fatigue" becomes exhaustion that is not relieved by rest, you start feeling that your previously meaningful work doesn't matter, or you start feeling emotionally "numb" - these are often the first indicators that you're slipping into burnout. If you notice any of these things, it's time to seek help. There are free assessments online such as the Maslach Burnout Inventory that may help you see more objectively how significantly this is impacting you. But when in doubt, seek help from a licensed medical professional.
Self-care is not just a buzzword; it's an essential practice for combating burnout. Implement daily rituals that promote well-being, such as exercise, meditation, or hobbies that bring you joy. These activities can help regulate your emotions and reduce stress, leveraging the self-management aspect of emotional intelligence. Regular self-care can recharge your batteries and help you maintain a better work-life balance, which is crucial for long-term career satisfaction.
Setting clear boundaries is crucial for preventing burnout. This might mean saying no to extra projects or defining specific work hours. By doing so, you're practicing emotional intelligence by respecting your limits and communicating them to others. This not only helps you manage your workload but also teaches colleagues and superiors how to work with you in a way that's sustainable and respectful of your needs.
Don't hesitate to seek support when you're feeling burned out. Whether it's talking to a trusted friend or seeking professional help, external perspectives can provide valuable insights and strategies for managing stress. This step taps into the social skills aspect of emotional intelligence, as it involves effectively navigating interactions with others to gain support and advice, which is vital for your recovery process.
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Miriam Zylberglait (Dr.Z) 🦋
Concierge Holistic Virtual Clinic. Physician (Obesity and Internal Medicine), Certified Chief Wellbeing Officer, Mother, Wife, Latina, and #1 Best Seller Author.
It’s important to understand that burnout is not just an abstract concept. It is a medical condition that is now listed in the ICD11 (list of medical conditions). It doesn’t not only cause fatigue, changes in mood and performance, but actually can cause depression, anxiety, insomnia and even suicide. Furthermore it causes chronic inflammation in our bodies, increasing risk for obesity, diabetes, cardiac disease, gut symptoms and even some cancers. Therefore if you suspect burnout you need not only to look for someone to support your emotional health but also for a physician that will be trained to improve your general well-being and help you improve your outcome and recover your quality of life.
Take time to reflect on your career path and realign your goals if necessary. Consider what aspects of your job you love and what might need to change. This reflection is an exercise in emotional intelligence, as it involves assessing your feelings and motivations to make decisions that will lead to greater job satisfaction. Sometimes, a slight shift in direction can reignite your passion for your work.
Finally, use this challenging time as an opportunity to grow and learn. Developing new skills or deepening your expertise can be incredibly empowering and can renew your sense of purpose. This growth mindset is an element of emotional intelligence that involves using your emotions as a source of energy to propel you forward. Learning can also provide a much-needed distraction from burnout, giving you something positive to focus on.
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Miriam Zylberglait (Dr.Z) 🦋
Concierge Holistic Virtual Clinic. Physician (Obesity and Internal Medicine), Certified Chief Wellbeing Officer, Mother, Wife, Latina, and #1 Best Seller Author.
We need to start understanding that burnout is a multi factorial condition that results from chronic stress caused by different types of triggers (stressors). There are few steps needed to assure that we will not only survive this situation but that we will thrive after it: 1) Recognize what where those situations that are causing you stress. 2) Identify if we are part of the problem, and what we could have done differently. 3) Learn from those challenging moments: what I like? What I cant tolerate? What can I do better? Where are my limits? What makes me happy? What is aligned with my values? 4) After learning about yourself focus on looking or creating a new opportunity to be able to work in a job (and live the life) you dream about.
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