021: 4 TIPS TO OVERCOME BURNOUT IN YOUR LIFE & ONLINE PRESENCE
Today’s question for the podcast:
How do you deal with overwhelm and overabundance of information? It seems like I have to do so much; social media (which is a monster in itself), creating e-books & courses to earn money, mailing lists, posting regular quality content, lead magnet creation, technical knowhow, affiliate sponsorship pitches. I quit my 9-5 so I would have full time hours to work on this, and I still feel like there is not enough time to handle all of these things – how does anyone do it?
Sharing your story has so much value, especially through social media, using your platform to teach educate & inspire is powerful. In this episode I’m opening up, being honest and vulnerable because I don’t want any listener to have to go through this.
Business owners have to practice going from “in the dirt, in the emotions” from whatever it is we’re going through, to having a faster recovery. If our cup isn’t full, we will get to a point where we can’t “push” anymore. It’s okay to find yourself in a negative space, but we have to create a quicker transition from the “emotion upset and coming out on the other side.”
In this podcast I go over tips to get over physical, mental and emotional burnout.
WHAT IS BURNOUT?
Burnout is when you are completely maxed out (we’ve all been there). When you create a business, you have to push. It can be hard to overcome & first we have to discern what you are feeling, or what type of burnout you’re experiencing. Imagine going to the gym, and not being able to go a day, is it because:
You really need a rest day; it won’t be beneficial for you or your body if you go.
OR
You aren’t motivated enough and just need to get it done.
The second option is something we all have to tackle, whether it’s getting content out every day, writing emails, or pressing the record button on a podcast, you have to get some things done to get to the goals you have. Discipline & getting it done, regardless of how you feel.
Discerning between where you need to create discipline in your life vs. where you need to slow things down is crazy important; doing so helps you operate at the best capacity. When you are operating at 75% - 80% of your max capacity, you are pushing yourself enough to get stuff done and stay motivated. When you’re at burnout, something is holding you to 100% capacity. In order to see a way out, you have to fully slow down and stop.
HOW TO RECOGNIsE BURNOUT
Some days are completely fine, and all of a sudden (when you reach 100%) it hits. With the responsibility of all of the roles in your business require manpower to achieve – understand the reality that burnout might happen to you. What are some signs of burnout?
You find yourself not caring about the things you normally do.
You question quitting.
You feel like you have to do everything at once.
You are letting your health take a turn.
#1 | Open Loop Syndrome
What is open loop syndrome? Communication overload. When experiencing this, it is hard to do more creating than the work than what is necessary. In order to make sure that the ball doesn’t get dropped, you might have to minimise other things. Open loop syndrome holds energy. If it stays in your head, and doesn’t get written down, there is a constant “to-do” list in the back of your head. With no systems in place to support the open loops of DMs, Facebook groups, etc, it can lead to overwhelm.
#2 | Growth Mode
At this level, the more your business grows, the more expenses grow. This can be a major cause of fear to start hiring, because it will take more cash to do so. However, as your business grows, you will find yourself having to outsource work. This might be a source of discomfort, as the system that was in your head and worked for you, might not be the right process for your team or employee. Therefore, you will have to create operational processes to make sure that no ball gets dropped on your watch. Spending this new time training your team is building a culture inside your company in which everyone works together and is excited to see the business grow.
#3 | Financial Scarcity
When you don’t have money to run your business, and are working to make sure you hit a monthly revenue, work becomes an obligation and not a point of enjoyment. What happens if you don’t hit the revenue target? it can create a terrible environment and cause you to act out of fear. “When you’re acting out of fear instead abundance, you are not acting from a place of your highest self.” What ends up happening (and what’s happened to me) is you stop creating from a space of a space of excitement, creativity and spontaneity and feel like you are just “selling to sell,” and make ends meet. When you’re burnt out, you don’t have energy to create or coach at a high level, and it’s hard to keep up with everything you’ve built. Learn how to handle these causes of burnout (or avoid them entirely) with my tips below.
HOW TO HANDLE BURNOUT
With burnout being a reality for many people, it is important to recognise when you find yourself going into that zone, and look for methods out.
Keep yourself in check
What can you give away or delegate to make sure you stay in your zone of genius? Reevaluating what you do on a weekly and daily basis, and what tasks you can pass off; though the second you give something away it will be harder to pick it back up again. Passing tasks off to someone else gives you more time to create more content and serve your audience in a better way. There is a balance between staying in your zone of genius, continuing to do something if you have the energy, but also understand the value of giving tasks away.
Focus on your strengths
Stay in your zone of genius. Fill up your own cup put yourself in the right seat by understanding what you are the best at doing. I’ve done a lot to understand what my human design is. Like personality tests, your human design helps you determine how you handle situations, and your overall strengths. (Link). My human design is called the projector. A projector has a lot of open energy channels, which means humans can affect my energy easily, and I work best by showing up as myself and provoking individualism in others. There are certain things you can probably tell that aren’t the best for you, whatever method you choose to understand the way you work best, should help you be in the right seat in your business. It’s okay to let some things go, and not wear all the hats in your business (and focus more on your zones of genius).
Stabilise your revenue
It is important to take a look at your finances and have a tight grip on your expectations of projections. By driving more revenue in your business and creating sustainable revenue, you are reducing the amount of stress you inherently hold each month. As an entrepreneur, when you start a new month, you start at 0. With monthly recurring revenue, you can balance the amount you’re spending on your team and the amount you expect to bring in each month. The faster you can create this balance and bridge the gap, the better it is for your sanity and prevent the burnout of always feeling like you have to “push.” Hiring mentors, coaches or joining programs is important to handle the future reality of burnout with methods to prevent it and build an empire.
Do things that give you energy
Overall, you have to make sure that you’re doing more things that give you energy rather than take it away. Some things that bring me energy are:
Going on walks
Journaling
Go to the gym
Recharge on a daily basis. Imagine taking a preventative vitamin – doing these things prevents a major blowout from happening. Doing things that give you energy on a daily basis, means that you don’t have to stress about how you’re going to feel; stress management and staying in alignment is wildly important as an entrepreneur.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:
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