Benefits of Dealing with Burnout

I suppose it goes without saying, but there are many benefits of dealing with burnout. Every week I work with leaders and professionals who are experiencing significant stress. Either they are in overload and overwhelm and on the verge of burnout and disillusionment or they are in fact … experiencing burnout.

Carefully I walk them through my three part program to deal with burnout.

1. Resolution – Deal with their immediate situation to reduce some of the stress so they can think straight and design a game plan for moving forward.
2. Transition – Find and adopt new strategies for the days to come. You can’t very well solve problems by continuing to do the same things over and over. And finally …
3. Continuity – Make sure the client has made transitions to new ways of thinking and behaving AND that those new strategies have taken root and become the norm.

What do clients get by walking through this simple but profoundly changing step by step process? I’d like to suggest some of the following as reported benefits of dealing with burnout that I have heard. I don’t need to make much comment on them. They are fairly self-explanatory. And they are benefits that everyone experiencing this significantly painful time in their lives would like to have. Here are just a few.

Physical Realm

• Able to start exercising again
• Back aches stop
• Weekly trips to chiropractor stop
• Panic attacks reduce to zero over time
• Get to sleep easier
• Get a better sleep – waking up more relaxed
• Have more physical energy
• Sporadic and strange aches and pains drastically decrease
• Skin irritations stop

Time Realm

• Feel like they get weekends back
• Feel like they get weeknights back
• They once again have choice about what they want to do
• More time to work on projects they care about

Relationship Realm

• More positive relationships begin showing up
• Their mind isn’t preoccupied when with their spouse – totally present again
• Their mind isn’t preoccupied when with their children – totally present again
• Time to enjoy good friends once again

Everyday Living Realm

• Feel more relaxed
• Able to enjoy a hobby if they have one
• Made some long-needed and healthy decisions
• Brought their life into line with the truths they believed
• Discovered or made more personal space – some time to recharge

Opportunity Realm

• Dreaming about possibilities again
• Got to take what they are learning and help others
• Regained the excitement of God opening up new doors

Emotional Realm

• More contentment with their circumstances
• Brighter outlook on life
• Feel like their emotional energy was being renewed
• Sense of regaining control
• Relief from the pressure of worry

Spiritual Realm

• Created the time to connect with God in prayer and the Word once again
• Began to see people (often the source of burnout) through God’s eyes
• Once again connected with God’s people in healthy and enriching relationships
• Developed a core of people who prayed for them daily
• Allowed space for God to work in grace

I think you would agree with me that these benefits of dealing with burnout were worth reaching for. I want to encourage you. Please take the fourth step in my Beat Burnout Plan … Prevention. Prevent the slippery slide into the ways of thinking and behaving that can lead to burnout in the first place. Pursue health and personal and professional effectiveness. Be proactive in the first place and you will reap the benefits that so many leaders, executives and professionals long for this very day.