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Take These Six Steps to Prevent Burnout

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Gillian McAinsh from the SA Freelancers’ Association reports from the recent SAFREA workshop on how to “unhustle”.

If you are exhausted, overwhelmed and burnt out from doing too much for too long, it’s time to step back from your stress and “unhustle”.

Executive coach Judy Janse van Rensburg presented an interactive workshop in Gqeberha on Thursday 27 October on how to avoid this ever-increasing condition.

The signs of burnout

Burnout, she said, was characterised by three main symptoms:

  1. Lack of energy or exhaustion;
  2. Increased mental distance from your work, or feeling negative or cynical about it;
  3. Reduced efficiency.

The Southern African Freelancers’ Association (Safrea) organised the seminar, which was open to members and non-members who worked on their own.

The workshop was designed to help freelancers recognise the signs of this pervasive condition – now a diagnosable occupational phenomenon – in their lives and take steps to prevent it.

“People are really tired, one told me ‘my tired is tired’,” Janse van Rensburg said, adding that this level of exhaustion was not normal.

“Human beings were not made for this. You can’t do it all on your own but high achievers often do not like to ask for help.”

Six steps to preventing burnout

She outlined six strategies to tackle the feeling of being totally overwhelmed:

  1. Calm your nervous system
  2. Review, reflect and reset
  3. Understand and recognise the signs of burnout
  4. Align your mind, body, soul and environment to support your health
  5. Listen to your inner wisdom, because you know yourself best
  6. Move to powerful living through better decision making, leadership and improved work practices.

Janse van Rensburg, who has a Master’s degree in Industrial Psychology, has more than 25 years’ experience in the personal development space, including many in deadline-driven environments.

Both during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, she said she had seen an increase in burnout in the workplace. However, being under constant pressure had serious negative effects such as potentially increasing the risk for a fatal heart attack.

Key questions

Janse van Rensburg offered other strategies to shrink an over-long to-do list such as asking:

Should this be on my to-do list?

If you answer “yes”, then ask: “Do I personally need to do it or can someone else do it instead?”

In addition, she advised, “not everything that could be done, should be done”. If you are facing burnout, it may be time to consider having a “not-to-do” list.

Safrea Eastern Cape chair Lynne Gadd-Claxton said the workshop – which was free to Safrea members – was one of many benefits of belonging to the international organisation.

Safrea also offers professional development and support, communications and advocacy, along with access to an annual survey that benchmarks rates in the media and communications industry.

The Eastern Cape region hosts regular networking sessions and quarterly events that are open to non-members for a small fee.

Judy Janse van Rensburg
Judy Janse van Rensburg

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.