PLANET BURNOUT
Burnout may feel familiar to many - overwhelm, emotional exhaustion, withdrawing from work and life, and reduced performance - if this sounds like your daily grind, you’re not alone.
It seems that burnout is on the rise - in fact, it’s regarded as such a significant issue that the World Health Organisation has classified it as an ‘occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.’ Whilst the WHO definition places it firmly on workplace stress, burnout can also take different forms:
Burnout can affect different populations including students, parents, retirees. The workplace just looks a bit different.
We can also experience burnout around certain issues such as Covid-19, where chronic stress builds up from coping with the ongoing news cycle, multiple lockdowns, changes to health restrictions and social distancing, etc.
If burnout is something that you’re struggling with, or you see yourself inching towards, then our latest book Planet Burnout may be just what you need to reset, refocus, and live a more sustainable life.
HOW CAN PLANET BURNOUT HELP?
PLANET BURNOUT is a step-by-step guide to help you understand the many layers of burnout and build skills for better resilience.
The author, clinical psychologist Dr Joyce Chong, has worked extensively with high achievers experiencing burnout, and in Planet Burnout she pours her clinical knowledge and experience into a step-by-step guide.
Planet Burnout draws on a range of techniques, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, problem-solving, as well as time and energy management. This book covers practical solutions that have helped many of Joyce’s clients manage the overwhelm that they experience.
what’S COVERED IN PLANET BURNOUT?
Our goal with Planet Burnout is to help you make small and practical changes for a more sustainable life. Planet Burnout draws on scientific research and clinical experience to help you explore the causes of your burnout, understand how it is maintained by your identity, thoughts, and take gradual steps to reset. Here are 5 ways in which Planet Burnout can make a difference:
UnderstanD why you burnout
The path to burnout differs for everyone:
For some, their Type A nature means they’re constantly on the go.
Those experiencing imposter syndrome, the need to keep up with the (imagined) expectations of others can be exhausting.
People pleasers may find their workloads increasing simply because they don’t want to rock the boat.
Whatever your style, these ways of seeing yourself - your identity - can place you on the fast track to Planet Burnout.
By first understanding the why of your burnout, you learn can start to change the unhelpful patterns that keep you there.
Spot self-sabotaging behaviours
There are many ways in which our actions lead to burnout, including:
Failing to set boundaries to limit the amount of tasks that you take on.
Not asking for help because you think you should have the answers.
Being excessively extra - to avoid scrutiny and potential criticism.
Not looking after your health and making each day harder to get through.
Letting your assumptions and expectations run wild without checking to see if you really ‘must’ or ‘should’ take something on.
By understanding how you trip yourself up, you can start to bounce back from burnout and lead a more sustainable life.
Flip the script on your Burnout Mindset
Mindset plays a pivotal role in burnout due to how situations and challenges are seen. For example:
When faced with a requests, people pleasers worry that others will think poorly of them and thus fail to set boundaries to avoid rejection.
Those with imposter syndrome discount their own successes, and worry that they will be ‘found out’. Consequently, they may spend countless hours learning more information so that they will never ‘fail’ or appear incapable.
Planet Burnout helps you to understand how your mindset (in interpretations and thinking styles) trips you up and leads you down the path to burnout. It outlines ways to flip the script on these unhelpful thoughts.
Learn skills to better manage yourself
A common theme in the daily lives of those with burnout is the sheer churn of the days and weeks, with their focus not only on working and/or studying but also taking care of life admin, chores, socialising, and having down time. The To Do list can be never ending.
Build skills to better manage yourself, be it:
Learning how to say no (with yourself or others) so that things are more manageable in the first instance.
Organise yourself better so that the morning rush or dinner prep can run smoother and with less overwhelm.
Find systems that will work for you and reduce your pain points.
Revive through self-care
The problem with burnout is that you spend your time – your weekends, your holidays – recuperating rather than actually enjoying your life. Before you know it, it’s back to the daily grind and you end up running yourself into the ground once again. Planet Burnout helps you to change this balance by examining the essentials of self-care when it comes to burnout, and helping you to build a sustainable plan.
“Burnout is not the result of doing too much; it is the result of not getting enough rest.”
dive deeper into planet burnout…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR of PLANET BURNOUT
Planet Burnout is brought to you by our clinical psychologist Dr Joyce Chong.
Dr Joyce Chong is our Principal Clinical Psychologist and has a wealth of experience working with burnout for over a decade. She helps professionals and high achievers who feel overwhelmed in their lives to reset and live in a more sustainable fashion through gaining insight and making practical changes. In Planet Burnout she pours her clinical knowledge and experience into a step-by-step guide to recover from burnout.
