How to Prevent Burnout: 5 Proven Action Steps No One Talks About

I heard the heavy vibration of my work *flip* phone and I felt that dreaded pang in my stomach. I hated hearing these alerts because I was on call at one job AND working another full-time job too. Needless to say, I was totally burnt out trying to do both.

Having to cater to two sets of responsibilities simultaneously was wearing me out completely. Can you relate? Are you wondering how to prevent burnout too?

Maybe you’re feeling burnt out from life in general, you feel a lack of motivation, passion, or desire, or you’re too beat at the end of the day to do anything besides the bare minimum- all your regular responsibilities. Or maybe work or school has you burning the candle at both ends.

You’re not alone in this, friend. And I’m going to teach you exactly how to prevent burnout, so stay tuned.

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How to Prevent Burnout by Identify the Source

First things first, you have to figure out exactly where the exhaustion is coming from. 

What Does Burnout Feel Like?

If you’re burnt out, you may be feeling fatigued and tired, even achy, you may get headaches, and feel like you’re just dragging your body around in this world. You may come to despise the things you do day to day because they suck all the energy out of you, even if you once loved them.

You’re probably burnt out if you feel like you’ve had enough of your job, school, your family or friends, your responsibilities, or your hobby, even. 

That job I just talked about, I used to loooove it but I came to dislike it because I spread myself too thin and it was adding to my stress instead of bringing me joy. It’s normal to change how you feel about things over time as your life changes.

Where Does Burnout Come From?

To prevent future burnout, it’s important to know where it has come from in the past, and where it’s currently coming from.

Do a little mental audit right now. Ask yourself if the things in your life feel lifegiving and bring you joy, or if they drain your energy and contribute to feelings of burnout.

Possible Sources of Burnout:

Your Job

Maybe you have a naggy, disrespectful boss or maybe your workload is entirely too heavy for just one person. You might have a killer commute that’s wrecking your mood, or your coworkers are making things incredibly hard. 

School

You could have too heavy a course load or too much else on your plate that’s competing for your attention and time. 

Life Responsibilities

You might be taking on all the chores. Maybe you food shop, cook, clean, do the laundry, and pay the bills. Think: is there something (even small) you can delegate to make a little room in your day? Is there something that can be automated? (For more on automating habits and routines, read this book!)

Sports or Hobbies

Yes, believe it or not, fun things can also be a source of burnout. Especially if your time is limited and you try to squeeze these things in, they can end up feeling more like a chore than a pastime.

I’m the first to argue, though, that these things are not the things that should go to the chopping block if you’re trying to gain more time. There are ways to prioritize doing things that bring you joy- more on that here.

Lack of Self-Care

If you’ve been around this blog before, you know how important self-care is! If you’re not taking time each day to do something small for you, you’ll end up reaching burnout a heck of a lot quicker.

Limited Social Time

As humans, we are made for contact! When we’re too busy to engage in social outings of any kind, burnout will absolutely creep in. I’m not talking: happy hour every Friday with the whole company, I’m talking: a quick coffee date or even FaceTime with a loved one.

Once you’ve identified where the burnout is originating, you can do something about it!

Action Steps to Prevent Burnout

1. Do One Small Thing For Yourself Everyday

I’m giving you my exact strategy for how to prevent burnout. I use this in my life every single day. Do one small thing for yourself daily. DAILY. 

To help you with this, I’ve created this calendar!

When you intentionally choose to set aside a few minutes every day that are solely for you, you’ll combat burnout on every level.

Burnout comes from feeling exhausted from all that you have to do. If you can change your mindset so that you GET to do xyz instead of HAVE to do abc, you’ll be better off. 

Maybe you decide to take a little walk around the block, take a bike ride, read for 20 minutes, do a hair or skin treatment, or some random task you’ve been dying to do but haven’t gotten around to, you’ll feel so fulfilled and joyful that you’re making time to live life the way you want.

To Do: Download this calendar and start it today!

2. Go To Bed Earlier

I’m a biiiig fan of getting 8 hours nightly. If you’re well-rested consistently, you’ll feel so much more ready to tackle the day. You’ll be less cranky, more energized and focused, and better able to get it done.

Also, when you set a consistent bedtime, you’re always telling yourself that you respect your time and your health. This sets a good internal dialog for respecting yourself in future scenarios. 

To Do: Pick a time you can try to commit to going to bed for at least 2 days this week. (In the next few weeks, shoot for 3 days, then 4, and so on until it’s pretty much consistent.)

I’m at the point where I go to bed at the same time a minimum of 5 days a week.

3. Create Habits and Routines that Work FOR You

If you’re dying to understand how to prevent burnout, listen up. Create a morning and night routine (and other routines for other parts of your life) that set you up for success. 

Don’t fill your morning and night routines with silly things that don’t help YOU get to where YOU want to be and how you want to feel.

Just because that influencer on Insta or that vlogger on Youtube uses a gua sha nightly or makes a delish matcha every morning does not mean that should be a part of your routine. That works for them and that’s in their routine because it feels good to them. 

If you place more importance on movement, do a little stretching routine to start your day off right. Or if you place importance on extra sleep, keep your morning routine super minimal so you can get a few extra minutes of snoozing. 

If you’re trying to escape feelings of burnout, and it feels good to you to journal, incorporate that into your routine.

Try using this habit tracker! It will help you narrow down your focus, too!

This journal has also been super instrumental in helping me be intentional about how my actions can work FOR me each day. (Worth eeevery penny.)

The key is to build routines and habits that feel good to you and support the person you are and want to be. You want to build routines and habits that support balance and wellness so you can fight burnout.

For help building routines, read here.

To Do: Strip down your routines (start with morning and night, then get to other areas like work and fitness) and build them slowly with just one task at a time that makes sense for you in this season of your life.

4. Remove Something from Your Plate- Leave Room for ME Time

Answer me this: Do you feel like you have too much on your plate??

That little voice in your head probably screamed YES, THAT’S ME.

This is your friendly reminder that you are allowed to remove things from your plate. If it’s not serving you, get rid of it, even if only for a time. 

In life, there are seasons, and each season has certain priorities. Just because being a class mom was on your plate last year, doesn’t mean it has to be this year too. Priorities shift and change as time passes, and that’s totally normal!

You are allowed to reorganize what’s on your plate and reallocate time and energy toward different items.

Right now, my plate is filled with work, blogging, being a wife, daughter, and sister, and ME time. A few years ago, my plate was largely filled with school and work. But things changed. I graduated and got married, so my priorities shifted. 

You may be thinking, “Well I certainly can’t remove work from my plate. I need to make a living.” And yes, you’re right. But you can shift your mindset and state that as: “I get to go to work and bring home money to do what I want with.” And “I get to choose how I spend my time when I’m not working.”

And you can also make the most of your work day by doing little things throughout your day that reduce burnout. I like to take midday walks and stretch a few times a day.

To Do: Create a note in the notes app of your phone and list the things you have on your plate then estimate the percentage of your plate they fill up. Is there something you can do 5% less of to add in a little extra ME time so you can prevent burnout?

5. Learn the Power of Saying No- Not Every Opportunity is for You

Good news, friend! You don’t have to say yes to everything! 

That side hustle gig, that volunteer opportunity, being on the PTA, heading up the next friend get-together, hosting Thanksgiving, or any other request or opportunity life presents.

I’d be willing to bet you’ve driven yourself straight into burnout in the past by saying yes yes yes yes yes yes to everyone and everything.

I’m still practicing this myself. I just had a hard lesson in saying yes too much. I took on 2 additional side jobs in addition to my full-time job inside of 2 weeks. What made me think I could sustain it?! I have no idea. I was blinded by the opportunity. 

Try not to let this happen to you! It’s okay to say no to an opportunity! It’s all about analyzing if it’s a good fit for you in your current season.

For exactly how to decide whether to say yes or no to an opportunity, read here.

When you take your power back and get comfortable saying no to certain things, you’ll find you’re more in control of your time. And that is exactly how to prevent burnout- being in control of your time and energy.

To Do: Make a note in your phone of the last 2 or 3 things you said yes to. Were they a good fit for you at the time? Can you learn from this and remember the power of the word NO next time someone comes to you asking for something or offering you something?

The Why: Benefits of Less Burnout

It’s obvious burnout is undesirable, but let me paint you a quick picture of why avoiding it is so special!

Increased Sense of Joy

When you limit burnout by using the action steps above, you have an increased capacity to recognize the little things in life and feel joy because of them.

When I’m burnt out, I don’t fully soak in the sun’s rays and singing birds when I have my breakfast in the sunroom because my senses are clogged up with stress and angst. I know this seems trivial, but it goes deeper.

When you’re functioning from a state of balance and wellness (the opposite of burnout), you feel more fulfilled because you’ve made space in your life to operate in clarity. And when you operate in clarity, you engage in more things that bring you joy. This leads to more gratitude and overall wellbeing.

I promise you, this is the case! I’ve made this shift in my life in the past few years and I can honestly say I am living my absolute best life, even in circumstances that aren’t exactly what I’d like them to be.

Take Charge of Your Life Again

When you take these action steps- when you go to bed earlier, say no to more things, reorganize what’s on your plate, and all the other stuff, you are claiming back your life from the things that once sucked you dry.

You’re saying that even though I still have to go to work and do chores and so on, you are refusing to live in a state of burnout. You’re inviting these practices into your life so it’s yours again, and your life doesn’t belong to stress.

Let’s Bring it Home

It’s common to feel burnt out from life. You’re not alone if you lost passion, motivation, or desire for things in your life. If you’re too tired to do anything besides your responsibilities, you’re burnt out. But that’s okay because you can do things to move away from that existence.

Take these action steps to heart, and pick one to run with. Feel free to implement them all, just not all at once! 

If you were wondering how to prevent burnout, the answer is in identifying the source of your burnout and implementing the action steps above. When you do, you’ll be able to better avoid burnout and live a more fulfilled, joyful life.