9 Ways To Prevent Burnout

9 Ways To Prevent Burnout

You would think that avoiding burnout would simply be a matter of not crossing a threshold of fatigue.

Burnout is not that simple.

Burnout And Creativity

Burnout is often work-related because we are increasingly expected to be not only highly creative but also highly productive – like creativity machines.

Robert Fritz, author of the bestseller, The Path of Least Resistance, writes that when we are creating there are two parts to the process:

1. Stretch: which occurs when we work and expand ourselves in the work.


2. Consolidation: which occurs when we take a step back afterward, rest and assimilate the results of the work.

Both parts of the process are necessary and support each other. Our fast-paced economic system keeps many of us stuck in the stretch phase of creating. If you are stretching and not consolidating, you are headed for burnout.

What Is Burnout?

Burnout is not just an emotional problem. Merriam-Webster  defines burnout as:

"Exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration."

Burnout usually occurs for one of two reasons:

1. Lack of rest or rejuvenation (overwork)


2. Lack of motivation or reward

Over the past 50 years rest has acquired a bad reputation. You can rest when you are dead is how the thinking goes.

However, work and rest are two complementary sides of the same cycle and they enhance each other. We know this intuitively because we love getting a good night's sleep after a day of positive and productive work and love going to work when we feel refreshed and on top of our game. When the cycle is working well we feel positive momentum; when not, we feel dr...