Tips To Avoid Burnout

While you have no boss, no commute, mostly interesting work if you can find it, and you even set your own hours, one of the hardest things for a WAHM to do is avoid burnout. Working from home you will be constantly looking for new things to do. If you are writing from home that means that you have to think of new things to write about every day or new headlines. You have to stay on top of what is going on in the world at all times.

Let’s first talk about what burnout is. In the Wikipedia Dictionary online, burnout is described as:

Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest.

Does everyone suffer from burnout? Studies have shown that at some point in everyone’s life they will suffer from burnout for one reason or another. When you are working at home, burnout can be a very bad thing. So let’s talk about things that we can do to avoid burnout or to recover from burnout.

• Work Different Hours. – If you are working late hours, maybe you should work early ones for a while. Remember that you are scheduling your time; figure out what works best for you.
• Change up your work routine – Change the routine that you do when you are at work.  Do you read emails first thing in the morning and return calls in the afternoon?  Do the opposite.  Return calls in the morning and do your emails in the afternoon.
• Take a lighter work load if possible. – Trying cutting back for a little bit. Take time to relax, read, spend time with the family, swim, etc.
• Socialize more. – Take time to get out and talk to others. Remember isolation is one of the biggest issues with working at home. Sometimes it just takes talking to others to pull you out of the dump.
• Add the spice of life back in. – Try something new. If you are always writing about babies, try writing about pets.
• Take a vacation - Obviously this is a last resort but take a vacation if you can. Spending time away from work might be your safe haven.
• Take a part time job – If it is constant worry about financial stress, get a part time job to help finance you working at home.  It could be a temporary position.

The earlier you realize that you are starting to suffer from burnout, the easier it will be to recover quickly.

photo credit: A.K. Photography