Burnout: emergency steps to save your life

There’s still an afternoon to go before you knock off but you are already dead tired. Since morning you have been gulping down cup after cup of coffee to keep awake, but your brain thinks only of bed, not the In-box on your screen clogged with unread e-mail messages.

We have all experienced being zombies, moving mechanically from 9-to-5, sleeping five hours each night and waking up with a pounding migraine. It’s not fun and certainly not good for your health, happiness or ultimate longevity.

But when general tiredness gives way to chronic fatigue, it is time to stop listening to your alarm clock each morning and listen to your body’s alarm bells. Are you burning yourself out?

Being dead tired in the workplace can lead to mistakes and even accidents. So, take note of these Eight Emergency Steps to resolve your problems and save your life:

1. Identify what you have been doing or not doing, to have made you dead tired. Spending too many hours in the office? Sleeping only after midnight and waking up at dawn? Getting anxious over work performance? Feeling mad at your kids for their poor school performance?

Recognising the underlying problems is your first step towards bouncing back. Write down as detailed as possible the list of things that stress and tire you at work and out of work.

2. Discuss with an older, experienced co-worker, friend or relative about your problems and ask for advice, ideas and suggestions. An outsider can usually see things better than the little demon whispering inside your head.

3. Plan to have at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night, regardless of work schedules and deadlines. You will get far more work done when you are fresh and refreshed.

Fix a time to get onto the bed before midnight. Ensure your bedroom is airy, clean and neat, and don’t clutter it with books, paper and a TV set. It is a bad idea to sleep with the airconditioning on – you wake up with a stuffy nose and stiff neck.

4. Limit your caffeine to one cup in the morning, or not at all. Note that caffeine is found in coffee and tea. If you feel you need a drink, munch an orange, pear or papaya.

If you drink alcohol (wine, beer, spirits, whatever), stop. If you still want to drink, then it’s pointless to read further about improving your career, health and general wellbeing. Alcohol is a poison that does only one thing – destroy your body and mind.

5. Manage your schedule. Every Friday afternoon, before you leave the office, draw up two lists for the next week: a to-do list and a don’t-do list. Print the two lists and place them on your desk next to the computer screen. Read them first thing every work day, and update them before you leave the office.

The don’t-do list is more general and long-term – a kind of discipline list of the meaningless habitual activities and tasks that clutter your day but produce no useful result.

6. Go home on time every work day. If your contract says 6pm, leave at 6pm or slightly later, for goodness sake! So what if people frown? You have a life to lead. When you are exhausted, not staying late in the office may even save you a day or two in medical leave.

7. Exercise. There are a raft of tips and programmes on the Web and on this NS Portal regarding running, gym workout and sports. Go find out what is most suitable for you.

8. Escape on a holiday.

Daily quick fixes

Do not work continuously for more than 45 minutes at a stretch. If you’re sitting in a long meeting session, suggest to everyone to stand up, stretch and go to the washroom to freshen up.

Take a 30-minute nap at lunchtime, if you have the privacy and opportunity. Don’t exceed 30 minutes or you become groggy and are unable to sleep properly at night.

Eat a smaller meal at lunch. After the meal, you should feel slightly hungry. If you feel full, it means you have over-eaten. Scientists have found that your body cells live longer if they are doing less work burning the calories you are consuming.

Don’t eat meat. Our evolutionary ancestors were plant-eaters. Meat is not the natural diet for humans or we would all be having tiger teeth. It is amazing how much more energised you will feel when you stick to only plant food. By the way, plant food has NO cholesterol.

People like former US president Bill Clinton jog and exercise like crazy, and yet suffered heart attacks because after each jogging session, they stop by a fast food joint to gobble beef burgers, fries and other cholesterol-rich stuff that block their arteries.

Go on a daily drinking binge of – cold water. Even if you’re not feeling thirsty, drink. The old advice of drinking eight glasses of water is out-of-date. You should be drinking 10 glasses or more every day, especially in a dry airconditioned office.