Are You Running Out of Gas? How to Avoid Burning Out
Have you ever run out of gas on a trip? From personal experience, I can tell you it’s not a fun experience. (Fortunately, the last time this happened to me was several years ago!) Similarly, experiencing burnout in life or at work is painful. The two experiences are quite similar and are ones you want to avoid.
When your car runs out of gas, the event itself isn’t that bad – the vehicle just stops and you can’t go anywhere, but you can’t get restarted. The consequences that follow are what creates the disruptions in your life. First, you have to recognize what the problem is: you used up all of your fuel. Next, you need to get past your frustration, anger and embarrassment so you can start doing some problem-solving. While your first line of thinking may be – “How (and where) do I get more fuel?” – the real question to consider is: “How does this impact my immediate plans?” So you do some quick thinking and determine who you need to call and notify of your situation. Then you move into problem-solving mode, hoping it is not going to take too long to resolve the situation (which depends, of course, on where you are when you run out of gas).
Running out of ‘fuel’ in your life, or experiencing burnout at work, can feel like a much harder problem to overcome than the one with your gas tank. But a similar line of thinking and taking some preventative steps can help keep you from reaching burnout in the first place.
The Best Solution: Avoid Running Out of Gas
I could write this article about how to deal with burnout. But the best solution is to avoid reaching the point of ‘empty.’ Here are a few relatively easy actions that can help:
1. Check the Gas Gauge. If you don’t want to run out of gas, it is wise to check your gas gauge occasionally. Are you at ¾ tank? ¼ tank? Almost empty? Some of us aren’t too self-aware (almost like our gas gauge doesn’t work) OR we keep going and going without thinking about our fuel level. If you don’t want to burn out, you need to be aware of your current energy level.
2. Consider Your Fuel Level and the Journey Ahead. Not only do we have to be aware of the amount of fuel we have in reserve, we also need to consider the journey that lies ahead. Are we just going to be running a few errands in town, or are we starting out on a long road trip? The amount of fuel needed differs significantly. Similarly, in life, sometimes we need just enough energy to get through the next day or so, while other times, we are headed into a long stretch of demanding engagements before we are going to be able to recharge.
3. Determine Where and When You Can Refuel. I live in the Midwest, where distances between towns and gas stations can be fairly far apart. Determining ahead of time the distance to the next refueling opportunity is prudent and can help reduce your anxiety about whether you can make it to the next gas station and rest area. In real life, we have to make and take the time to recharge our energy levels – physical, emotional, relational and even spiritual. This has to be part of our plan for life – work, get tasks done, give to others AND rest, recuperate and re-energize. (Remember, sometimes we need to stop and “fill up the tank” rather than just put in $2 of gas in every day – which calls for longer times of rest and relaxation.)
4. Make the Necessary Adjustments to Make it to the Next Refueling. Sometimes we have to make some decisions along the way that will allow us to stretch what we have in our tank as far as possible. The gauge says (and has said for a while) that we are on empty. We feel like we are running on fumes and could run out of gas completely before we’ve completed our trip. When we are in this type of situation, we have to alter our plans – slow down so we don’t use up our fuel so quickly; go off of our original path to reach a closer gas station; or call someone and ask if they can bring us a gas can with a little fuel to keep us going. This happens in life, too – needing to slow down so we can make it, take a detour and say no to some plans, and/or ask for some help.
Listen up. I’m a pseudo expert on burn out. I can talk about it professionally, but I (too frequently) live it personally. Take my advice – learning how to avoid burning out is far better than having to climb out of the ditch later on.
Pay attention to the early warning signs (such as irritability, discouragement, pushing yourself, impatience). Make some adjustments, and life will go far more smoothly for you and those around you!
Tags: burned outCategories Burnout, Busyness, Stress management