Introduction
There are people who say with hindsight that their burnout is the best thing that happened to them. Usually, they 
don’t mean the burnout itself, but the lessons they have learned from it. Because having burnout is nothing short of terrible. And long-lasting.
As an entrepreneur or employee, you don’t want to experience something like this. Prevention is better than cure. But how do you do that? Below you will find 6 more tips to prevent you from getting burnout. See the first part here.
Special attention is required for number 6, which gives you an easy fallback possibility and ultimately the perfect way out of the corporate jungle by becoming your own boss!
What is burnout?
If you have been under stress or even strain for a longer period, your body and mind will start to react in one way or another. Burnout is simply an overload in the brain. This has both psychological and physical consequences.
There are two types of burnouts:
1. The first variant is the hyper variant, where the stress mechanisms are overactive. You are constantly restless with this variant. This feeling is difficult to control.
2. The second form of burnout is called the hypo variant. This means that the stress mechanisms are underactive. You suffer from fatigue with this variant. People with the hypo variant of burnout can sometimes sleep for 14 hours in a row without feeling rested.
How does burnout develop?
When a person is in a stressful situation, the body makes the hormones cortisol, adrenaline and some other. Cortisol causes an increase in blood sugar, which gives the body more energy. Adrenaline enables the body to quickly put in the extra effort. So that the body can act quickly in stressful situations.
When the body ends up in these kinds of stressful situations too often, it makes these hormones even when it is not needed. It can cause a continuous feeling of restlessness and fatigue. When a person does not rest too often at times like this, they become overstrained. If this person continues after this, he has a great chance of developing burnout. Too much production of cortisol and a disrupted sugar metabolism can also lead to further disruption of the hormonal balance.
1. Try and recognize the symptoms
Talk about it if you are experiencing certain symptoms and feel that you are not doing as well as you would like. What are the first symptoms of brain overload?
The first burnout syndromes are forgetfulness, fatigue, mood swings, a continuous feeling of restlessness, headaches, and sleep badly. People who are developing burnout also increasingly isolate themselves from their environment. They slowly start to live in isolation, you will experience concentration issues and even might become lethargic. 
Overloading your brain is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s very human. Not talking about it is less okay. If your knee is bothering you, you will ask for help. So if your brain is bothering you, you should too. Others can help you and can think about how you can give yourself more peace of mind.
Secondly, it might seem that a person is ready for a holiday, but when these symptoms become more and more noticeable and become a hindrance in daily life, it is time to raise the alarm and look for an effective burnout therapy.
2. Get to know your limits
When preventing burnout, you must realize that burnout is not only caused by working too hard, too long or too much. Burnout is an overload on your brain and is the result of structurally crossing your boundaries. This can be in the work field, in the private field, in the social field, or in all areas at the same time. You, therefore, prevent burnout by not structurally crossing your boundaries. But… how do you know where those limits lie?
You get to know your limits by knowing your “energy sources” and “energy guzzlers”. Discover what gives you energy. And what costs you energy. Make sure this is in balance. Both at work and in private. Do you notice that your work mainly costs you energy? Then ask yourself whether your work or range of duties still suits you. Do you notice that you are wasting a lot of energy in your private life? Do you wonder if you participate in social activities because you want to or because you think you should? Make sure you do things mainly because you really want them. Don’t do things because you think others expect them from you.
3. Help yourself and make choices
In addition to knowing your limits, it is important that you keep control of your life. Are you not happy in a situation? Do something about it. Even if it is something small, take action and make a choice. Sitting still and doing nothing does not change the situation and can make an unpleasant situation mentally more difficult every day.
The last thing you want to have is that some problems are going to affect your health. I know from experience how bad it can et and even without realizing it. It only came to me after the fact and took months to repair.
4. Take care of yourself the right way
Burnout is a mental overload. But it is also true that your mental and physical condition are interrelated. Not only do your muscles and bones need energy, your brain too. So eat healthy, exercise enough, exercise enough and above all: get enough rest. So give your brain plenty of rest. How? By not taking in too much information, which can be a challenge nowadays. So don’t read, app, game, tweet or watch TV all the time. Then what? Walking, sports, cycling, meditation, swimming, knitting, drawing, crafts and so on.
5. Replace “must” with “want to”.
We people have a lot to do: “I still have to perform this and then I have to that and then we have to accomplish other
things.” To have those implies experiencing a certain pressure. That pressure can come from the outside or from the inside, but pressure creates stress anyway. And too much stress can result in burnout. So you should replace must with want to.
And then when you find out that you don’t want to do something at all, ask yourself whether you should do it? Do you have to go to that party? Do you have to go to that meeting? Do you have to exercise 5 times a week? Do you have to clean your whole house tonight (or can you do it tomorrow)? And so on. You probably don’t have to do that much at all. Be aware and ask yourself: Do I want to be this busy?
6. Start making money on the side
How would it feel, when next to your very demanding job, you would have another source of income? Something that makes you think that even when you would lose that job, you would still have some income? You would worry less about losing your job or would not be annoyed so quickly about your boss anymore. With the right ideas and the right professional help, you can all achieve this! How? By starting your own internet business, making money on the side and ultimately becoming your own boss. I did this myself and so can you! And here is how I did it.
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Hello there!
That is quite a unique and helpful article you have there. Burnout is something no one wants to experience even though they might pretend to be fine with it. It is never enjoyable and some bosses wouldn’t even care but keep overloading the staff with many work. Thanks for providing those helpful tips to help one curb such situations.
Many a time it is the bosses who do not see or care enough about their staff, leading to unhappy and yes even sickly employees. Of course, bosses can be under a lot of stress, but this can be no excuse not to mind their staff. After all, this is one of the important tasks of any manager.
Personally,I have experienced burnout several times while I was in school, both the hyper variant and the hypo variant. Well, either ways, I didn’t feel good about it. I had to slow things down a bit and get more time to rest. You termed the tips as tips for avoiding burnouts at work, but I am sure they will also do good for students who might be having burnouts. Thanks for this helpful tips.
You are right to state that burnouts also can occur outside work situations. I hope that you have learned from your experiences at school and in future will see one coming. It is good to be cured, but it is better to need no cure at all.
I have had my own Fair share of burnouts, Burnout reduces productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing there to give. The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life—including your home, work, and social life. Thanks for sharing this awesome article I hope it helps othera
I think you have covered the seriousness of a burnout quite well. It should never be underestimated and preferably recognized at an early stage or better yet, be avoided totally. This also why I have now written twice about it to give it the attention it needs.
One of the most important things when talking about burnouts is learning how to avoid them. I am glad you covered this on your post and these points you mentioned concerning trying and recognize the symptoms have helped me a lot. And finding a second source of income online has been equally important.
Burnout symptoms can have a lasting effect on people, even years before fading away. It is a danger to anybody’s quality of life. Especially the fact that a burnout can just sneak up to you is important to know. I hope this article therefore reaches a lot of people.