If you’re juggling being a business owner, mom, and wife, you know that burnout is a serious thing. It happens to all of us, but getting in tune with our bodies help us see the early warning signs. As your business coach, I’m going to teach you what to do when you feel burnout coming on. The key is to act before your exhaustion gets so bad it throws you over the cliff.

What are the Warning Signs?

  1. You feel tired all of the time, and no amount of caffeine helps.
  2. You’re irritable with your children, your husband, and your family members.
  3. You’re struggling to get quality sleep. 

You could be experiencing one or all of those things, or even something different that is a unique trigger for you. But more importantly, if you can learn to recognize when burnout is coming, you can learn to maintain a sense of balance between work, family, and self-care.

Once you get good at this, chances are you won’t ever get to a state of burnout again. If you do, they’ll be limited to those times when you have projects that take extra time and throw off your balance. But remember this, being a little extra tired is very different then feeling ‘burnt out’ from life and business. Tiredness is a low feeling of energy, burnout is a debilitating to your mental health.

This is one of my favorite quotes:

“Almost everything will work again, if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” -Anne Lamott

The message here is that you need to relax, take a step back from your busy schedule, and allow yourself to do something you love. Be creative and give yourself a little bit of attention. So maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t even have an extra 10 minutes of my day, how am I supposed to prioritize time for myself on top of it?”

Girlfriend, you need an intervention from your pal Jess! I promise you, you deserve your time! And your family will benefit from it also. You know the saying, ‘you can’t pour from an empty cup’, so stop trying to live life that way! You must give yourself at least an hour of your day. If you have to break that up into 20 or evan 10-minute increments, fine, but make sure you get 1hr to yourself every single day.

What Do You Do?

There are 4 things that I suggest that you do during your self-care time to avoid burnout.

  1. Laugh – You need to let that inner kid out. Call a friend and tell them about something ridiculous that happened. Voice conversations are becoming rare, and it’s unfortunate. When you get off the phone, you’ll be smiling and feeling joy instead of worrying about all the pressures of life that are causing your burnout. Laughing feels good.
  2. Get outside – Fill your lungs with fresh air. There is so much power in this! Take your dog for a 20-minute walk, let your kids play in the park and play with them. Twenty minutes is all it takes. When you come back, you’ll feel energized, and balanced, ready to attack that to-do list with excitement.
  3. Stretch – Your hips are tight from sitting all day, and you’re emotionally exhausted, get up and move your body. Get in tuned with your body and how it feels and release the tension that has been building up. The best thing is, you don’t need any fancy equipment or a yoga routine to stretch. You’re just going to start stretching in any way that feels good. Straighten your spine, outreach for arms as far as they can go, bend over and let the tingle in your legs come alive. Take note of how your body’s feeling and release tension with every movement. You are going to feel amazing.
  4. Create – Do something creative just for yourself. Write a poem, sing your favorite song, get an adult coloring book, paint, crochet, etc. If you don’t enjoy one thing, try another, until you find something that feels good even if you’re terrible at it in the beginning, just express yourself. Just getting in tune with something that sparks your creativity will bring you peace of mind.

If you’re feeling burned out, take these tips from a business mentor and remember always, Self-care is essential for your success and your health.