5 Tips to Help You Avoid Burnout

Updated on May 20, 2020
physician burnout

A lot is being demanded of medical professionals around the world now. A lot of you are working harder than ever before in your lives, under conditions that are less than ideal, all while watching tragedy strike every day. The situation is not good. 2020 is shaping up to be a very rough year.

The excessive amount of stress being placed on medical professionals, combined with long and grueling work hours, is leading to burnout happening at an unprecedented scale. If you are trying to endure in a rough work environment yourself, then you should make burnout prevention one of your main priorities. Not just for your own wellbeing, but for the sake of other workers around you, who need all the help they can get in order to get through this pandemic.

In order to help you keep working, today we are going to cover what burnout is and what you can do to prevent it. Or at least delay it as much as possible.

What is burnout

As you may know, “burnout” isn’t a medical diagnosis. Job burnout is the colloquial term given to the depression-like state often induced by job-related stress on workers of different fields. Since the definition is loose, possible symptoms are varied. People suffering from burnout may experience irritability, anxiety, overbearing amounts of stress, insomnia, fatigue, headaches, stomach pains, constipation, and just an overall feeling of cynicism and hopelessness towards the work they are doing. All the symptoms are caused by intense mental and emotional duress.

Burnout does not affect workers in the same way. Some people seem immune to its effects; they get exhausted after working long hours, but they are fine by the time their next shift runs around. Others experience it happening in increments, meaning doing their job becomes harder and harder every day until they can barely bear it. Finally, some people can crash seemingly overnight, especially if they went through something shocking or traumatic at work. Such as making a major mistake, being almost fired, or losing a patient.

How can you avoid burnout?

The tips on what can be done to avoid burnout are quite simple. The key is to systematically keep following these tips, as regular stress and exhaustion will make you want to avoid these habits. Just remember that while doing these might be hard, not doing them will be worse.

1 – Exercise. Regular moderate exercise can bring down your stress levels and help you cope with the symptoms of burnout.

2 – Eat properly. If you are too tired to cook proper meals, you should order them. Avoid living off processed food and snacks; those will further deregulate your mood and hurt your health.

3 – Stay social. Being around friends, family, and loved ones can also help reduce stress and regulate your mood.

4 – Laugh. Laughing and smiling more can help you endure rough times. Find reasons to laugh through your day, and give yourself permission to do so. Being happy won’t make the world worse.

5 – Sleep. Regular sleep is effective at both reducing your stress and helping you manage anxiety, both of which can help stave off the onset of burnout. If you’re having trouble sleeping, you should try CBD, which you can find on Cibdol.com.

The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.