Its pretty likely youve heard of burnout and you may have even experienced it.
Work stress activatesour hormonal, metabolic, immune and cardiovascular systems.
These changes may eventually cause other physical conditions such ascoronary heart disease.
The most significant way we can prevent burnout is recovery.
Burnout is a consequence of chronic work stress over extended periods of time.
It hasthree components:
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Research continues to show how important it is to recover from work on adaily basis.
Recovery means finding time or space for yourself where you dont engage in things that are work-related or stressful.
Proper recovery helps you feel more energetic and enthusiastic to face another day at work.
After work, we have the opportunity forexternal recovery.
These are things we do outside of work to help relieve stress.
Instead of keeping on top of work and emails, external recovery may include doing any activities you enjoy.
Checking emails after work wont help with recovery.
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The key to good recovery is choosing activities based on how they make you feel.
If social media creates negative feelings, dont check it during your work breaks or after work.
If socializing with certain people makes you feel drained, this isnt going to help you recover.
Daily recovery is also important.
Research showsthe energy gainedfrom the previous days after-work activitieshelps manage the days work stress.
Some recovery experiences are more suited to different people.
If you feel exhausted due to time pressures at work,relaxation is most protective.
With burnout, emotional exhaustion typically happens before other stages.
Its theeasiest to identify, and easier to change than the other stages.
So if you feel emotionally exhausted after work every night and dont recover by the morning yourrecovery is incomplete.
This article is republished fromThe ConversationbyRajvinder Samra, Lecturer in Health,The Open Universityunder a Creative Commons license.
