What is burnout?
According to pyschologytoday, burnout is defined as a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. In today's world, almost everyone is experiencing burnout, however, a lot of us might not be aware of it. I didn't know anything about burnout until I had a series of breakdowns and meltdowns so frequently that I had to revisit a lot of my life choices. I promised myself that I would put myself as my priority and believe me, I never looked back after that decision.
Until last year, a burnout for me always lead to a breakdown or a meltdown. As I researched into my burnout situation, I realized certain unattended triggers eventually lead to burnout -> meltdown. My own burnout resrearch has tremendously helped me in understanding myself better and I hope this helps you as well.
I have three major burnout triggers:
- Clutter
- Sensory stimulation
- Social exhaustion
Clutter
Visual clutter is my biggest trigger. More the visual clutter, more anxious I get. I worked on reducing visual clutter by practicing minimalism. KonMari's method of organizing was tremendously helpful in declutting my things. Please know that this was a two year long journey. First step was to purge everything and then came the organizing part. Now, I go through declutter every few months to keep my stuff in check. I mindfully buy new things, rather, rarely buy new things. I buy things that provide high value in terms of usability and practicality.
Because there are less things, I spend way less time cleaning my house, which gives me more time to spend with family and my other hobbies.
Sensory Stimulation
I have hightened olfacotry senses and they get even higher when I am burning out. I noticed that constant
So when ever I notice the above things getting out of hand, I take it slow and take a break. Sometimes even taking a half a day off on a Friday helps me alot to regulate my burn out.I am also able to figure out when I am sensorily overstimlated and take necessary measures before it gets too late.I am also learning to say no.All these things have helped me manage my burn out off late.