10 | How To Prevent Burnout as an Entrepreneur (And Why You Should Care) -

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Podcast Description

Although burnout may seem like a new buzzword, it’s not one that should be taken lightly as it is very much real and could actually be happening to you right now. In fact, I was on the bridge of burnout right before outlining this episode.

But thankfully, I know the signs of burnout and how to avoid it and I want to help you with it too, so that’s exactly what we’re talking about in today’s episode, because yes… burnout definitely impacts your productivity and that’s something we don’t want.

So stick around, put on your earbuds and listen closely – we got some entrepreneurial burnout to prevent.

Links Referenced in Episode:

▶ Download your Free Effective Weekly Planning Starter Kit

▶ Listen to episode 4: How To Prioritize Your Weekly Biz Tasks

▶ Listen to episode 6: Blog Scheduling Tips to Get More Done

▶ How To Recover from Burnout as a Mom

Connect with me:

Website | FB Group | Instagram

Episode Transcript

(Note: This is a formatted AI-generated transcript to make it easier for you to read through, but is not an optimized blog post. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors and filler words – it’s just how I speak LOL)

Episode Introduction

Although burnout may seem like a new buzzword, it’s not one that should be taken lightly as it’s very much real and could be happening to you right now. In fact, I was on the bridge of burnout right before outlining this exact episode.

But thankfully, I already know the signs of burnout for myself and how to avoid it, and I really want to help you with it too because I know that I am not alone in this feeling.

So that is exactly what we’re talking about in today’s episode, because yeah, burnout definitely impacts your productivity and that is something that we do not want. That is a no go around here. So stick around, put your earbuds in and listen closely because we have some burnout to prevent.

Hey, I’m Lucy Reyes, your host of the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast, where I’m on a mission to help online entrepreneurs like you focus on all the right things and kiss overwhelm goodbye. Here, you’re going to learn strategies that will boost your productivity so that you can scale your online biz and impact lives sooner.

It’s your time to shine! So let’s get started.

Hey, welcome back to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast, episode 10. I know that as an online entrepreneur, you have likely experienced burnout and possibly more than once.

And can I let you in on a little secret? I have had many close calls myself. And actually, at the time of recording this episode, I almost had another one because, you know, sometimes I just get so excited about a new project that it’s hard for me to sleep and all I want to do is to get it done.

Not necessarily because I feel like I need to get it done, or else. But more so, because I want to, and I really enjoy it. But that doesn’t defeat the fact that I’m still overworking my brain and my body so right before I outlined this episode in particular, I had started to see signs of possible burnout creeping up, and I forced myself to go back to bed and get some rest.

I know when to do this because I know what my signs of burnout are and how I can prevent them from happening, which is what we’re covering in today’s episode so that way you can do the same.

What is burnout?

But first, let me start by explaining what burnout even means and why it’s a real thing. I know that this word can seem like a buzzword nowadays. However, it’s definitely not something that should be overlooked or brushed off to the side.

Burnout is actually a medical disorder that does result from excessive and prolonged stress, which appears in different ways for us all.

And when it’s not avoided, and especially if it happens often, it can truly lead to severe mental and health issues.

Listen, I’ll quote my source on this in the show notes as my proof for you to take this seriously. Okay. But hear me out.

The other thing in how this really relates to productivity is when you are going through all of these signs of burnout, which we’re going to talk about next, it really does not help you stay productive.

You are not productive when you are about to hit burnout or when you were in the middle of burnout, which means that you are having to produce way more work for way less, which is the complete opposite of what I want for you.

Signs of Entrepreneur Burnout

So here are some signs that could be a signal that you’re experiencing burnout already, or that you might be getting close to.

Extreme exhaustion

So one of the most common ones is extreme exhaustion. So you might be just overly tired, like more tired than usual.And it’s not just like your typical, oh, it’s my bedtime. Time to go to bed. Oh, it’s five minutes past and I’m tired.

No, I’m talking about like you’re tired all day. You’re constantly yawning. Your body kind of feels maybe a little bit weak too.

So if you’re feeling extreme exhaustion, that is a sign that you are right towards, you’re heading right towards burnout.

Negative thoughts about your actions

Another thing is you may be having negative thoughts about what it is that you’re doing. You start to spiral because now your brain is not thinking straight and because you’re still trying to work while you’re going through burnout, you’re getting less things done.

So now your brain is saying, oh, you’re not good enough. You’re not doing that fast enough. Why can so-and-so do this?

Like all of these different things come inside your head just because you’re still trying to work through the burnout, which kind of causes this cycle of now your brain telling you negative things about yourself. Does that make sense?

Impatient and easily irritated

Another thing is you might get easily irritated or overly impatient with yourself, with your kids, with your spouse, with whoever you see that crosses your path.

You might just be easily irritated and that is kind of going back to the extreme exhaustion, right, because if you’re tired, you’re naturally cranky and so this is a direct impact from that.

Lack of focus and procrastination

Another thing would be lack of focus. So if you’re finding yourself having a little bit of a hard time focusing, that is still kind of going along the lines of you’re tired, because when you are tired, you are less focused, which kind of goes into the next one, which is procrastination.

Whenever you’re not focused. Whenever you’re tired, you start to procrastinate. And you’re kind of like, oh, I don’t really want to do that. And maybe you think that you’re procrastinating for a different reason. Maybe it’s because you just don’t like it, or you don’t know how to do it, or it’s hard.

But whatever the reason is, procrastination could still be a sign that you are starting to experience burnout. It’s one of those, that’s kind of like you have to pay attention to it and you know, yourself best.

Lack of motivation

But the other thing is lack of motivation. So if you are lacking the motivation to do something, to get something done, it might not just be because you feel like you’re not good enough. It could be just the fact that you are tired. So you are not motivated to do anything because all your body and all your brain wants to do is get in bed and go to sleep.

Physical oddities

And the last thing is there could actually be some physical components to like showing you that you’re burning out. For me, it’s eye twitches.

I don’t know if that’s you too. But when I get super stressed and I feel like I am heading right towards burnout, my eye starts to twitch. So this could be something different for you. It could be the same thing for you.

But it’s something that kind of never really happens unless, you know, you’re like, okay, Like, if you were to sit back and think about your days and what you’ve been doing, and what’s been going on, you’ll be able to say, oh, this is happening because yeah. Like I’ve been staying up way too late. Or, yeah, I don’t think I’ve been getting enough rest.

Right. If you sit back and you think about what has been going on, you will start to see a pattern and then you will start to see which one of these signs are true and that way you can actually start to notice them before they happen, hopefully before it’s too late.

So that way you can just sit back and chill. Okay. Whenever you see any of these signs creeping up, that means it’s time to take it easy.

Tips to Prevent & Avoid Burnout as an Entrepreneur

However, the most ideal situation would be not to have to you know, take a step back because you’re in the middle of burnout, but instead let’s help you prevent burnout from even happening.

So the good thing is that there are several ways that you can do this. You can prevent burnout, even as the ambitious entrepreneur that you are, who enjoys and wants to do all of the different things to you grow your online business.

Take breaks

And we’re going to start it off with the first tip, which is to take a break. Yes, it’s no surprise there. You need to take breaks.

If you have a hard time at taking breaks, because you’re always on the go go go, which, by the way, that’s totally me, then set yourself reminders. Add it to your actual planner, to your calendar, to your Google calendar, whatever it is that you use.

Schedule a reminder that, okay, I need to get up. I need to take a break. I need to give my brain some space to breathe and do something else. It could be a change of scenery.

It could be just a simple nap. It could be that you go and do something else physical, like whatever it is, but stop working. Stop working and take a break. And this should be happening every single day.

Not just once a week, not twice a week. Every single day, you should be intentionally taking multiple breaks throughout your day.

Related Post: Slow Down & Prioritize

Realign your priorities

The second tip is to realign your priorities. Now in episode four, I go over how to prioritize your weekly biz tasks so be sure to go back and listen to that episode if you need help with this.

But basically you really want to go back and think through your priorities and say, okay, what do I really need to do myself? And what can you automate, delegate and outsource because those are going to be the things that are really going to help you, not just stop burnout this next time, but every single time after that in the future.

So definitely go back and reference episode four and also be sure to grab my freebie, which includes all of the worksheets that are going to help you with this because one of my strategies is to prioritize all of the things that you are doing.

So to get my freebie, go to cheerstoproductivity.com/pdf, and you’ll get my three secret strategies to help you weekly plan your tasks.

Implement systems to stay organized

Another thing that you want to do as an online entrepreneur to prevent burnout is to implement systems to keep your biz organized. Why?

Because being organized helps you feel less overwhelmed by all of the things. All of the things that you’re trying to do to keep your business afloat.

By having strategic systems implemented, you know exactly where everything is at all times, and you’re not having a scramble at multiple times in the day trying to find something and then just getting frustrated even more when you take longer than you should have to find that one thing.

In addition, this also helps you with automation. So there are certain things that you can do in these strategic systems to help you automate certain tasks so that way you’re not the one worrying about it or having to do it.

And honestly, if it can be automated and you’re still the one doing it, then it’s literally kind of wasting your time, which is just adding on more to your plate because it’s something that could have been done and taken care of by a tool.

And lastly, it actually helps you with the previous tip that I just mentioned about realigning your priorities because when you have systems, you’re able to clearly see what your priorities are.

And, and that in itself is huge because how many times have you finished your day and then you’re like, oh, no, like I forgot to do this one thing, because you know, that one thing was a priority, but for some reason it got slipped through the cracks or you weren’t able to see that it was a priority and now you’re having to spend extra time and you’re having to work longer hours to get it done.

This versus had you been able to clearly see or remember or identify that that one task was a priority for the day, you wouldn’t have needed to take a couple extra hours to get it done.

So that is why having strategic systems in place for your business can really, truly help you prevent burnout as well.

Get some fresh air

Now tip number three is to get some fresh air. I know, I kind of already mentioned this a little bit and the first tip to take a break. But you should also be intentionally going outside to catch some fresh air.

There’s something about getting that vitamin D and just having a little bit of wind and blow in your face that makes you instantly kind of relaxing, calm down and gives your brain some more breathing air, right.

So get some fresh air daily, even if it’s just a simple walk outside to your patio or to your front lawn. I know that if you’re in a hotter season, like I am, I’m in Texas and it is so hot outside.

I don’t want to go outside. I don’t want to go outside, but I’ll go out there with a little fan even if it’s just for a few minutes, five minutes. It’s because it’s too hot. And then when it gets cooler, then I’ll go out there and take long walks and everything.

I mean, you might be taking walks in the heat, but I’m not a heat person. Anyways, get some fresh air. Okay.

Practice self-care

The next thing is practice self care. I know it is so hard to put yourself first. I know, I know that as the ambitious and with all your other priorities, you’re the type of entrepreneur that is pretty hard for you to put yourself first at times.

And so practicing self care can seem like a real, real struggle for you. But I really want to encourage you to really take the time to practice self care daily. Yes, every single day.

And I know that whenever people think about self care, you instantly think of like getting a massage done or going to the spa or whatever, but that’s not the only ways you can practice self-care.

You can say some prayers. You can do some journaling. You can meditate, you can exercise. There’s so many different ways to practice self care at home that only take a few minutes, but those few minutes can be incredibly impactful. Okay. So definitely take some time to practice self-care.

Plan ahead

Another thing that you want to do is plan ahead. By planning ahead, you are able to practice flexible planning and you’re able to schedule based on how you know things kind of go.

So if you’re a blogger, you can go to episode six to learn some blog scheduling tips I have for you, but otherwise just know that flexible planning pretty much means that you’re planning, but you’re adding flexibility into your planning.

Because by doing it that way, you’re not being so strict on yourself that I have to do this at this time. And at this time, and at this time. Yes, I want you to be detailed with your planning, but I want you to be open-minded to having that flexibility.

And when you plan ahead and you’re able to kind of get ahead of whatever the things are about to come while still giving yourself some breathing room to move things around, you are not instantly stressed out when something doesn’t go as planned.

Because tell me, how many times do things not go as planned and then you’re frustrated. You’re like, argh, like, why couldn’t I get that thing done? Or this happened and now I wasn’t able to get this thing done.

Like that happens all the time and unfortunately, it’s something that, you know, it’s one of those things where life happens. You’re not always going to be able to prevent every single thing. And plans will change. Plans will fail. Plans will vary. Okay.

So add some flexibility into your planning and your scheduling and plan ahead so that way you can kind of be more, a step forward before things happen and then you spiral out and then you get upset.

Unplug from work

And lastly, you really want to unplug from work. And I’m talking about actually unplug. And I’ll be the first to say that this is probably one of the hardest ones for me, even though I enjoy doing things outside of work. Right.

I’m not just some person that just sits at the computer and does nothing else but work. I enjoy my family and we do all these other things. But my brain always wants to keep thinking of all these ideas and adding things to my Trello board and new product ideas and like it’s always going right.

And so I do struggle a little bit to fully disconnect and unplug from work. And that is what I’m talking about. I’m talking about turning that work side of your brain off and getting outside.

Enjoy your hobbies. If you’re a parent, then go and enjoy and spend time with your kids or your pets. Go walk your dog. Whatever you enjoy doing. Like for me,

I enjoy Netflix binging like yes. Like we will watch so many shows.

My husband and I, sometimes with our kids, we have Friday night movie nights. We have very competitive game nights. We are super super Mario fans. And I am always the mini game queen.

So these things really help fuel your energy back up and actually do help you prevent the next burnout because you are happy. Your brain is doing other things besides stressing out about work. So unplug and disconnect from work and go enjoy your hobbies. Okay.

For some of these things, if you’re a parent, if you want more specific tips on how you can either recover or prevent burnout as a mom specifically, then I have a blog post on my mom blog, which I will link it to the show notes where you can go get some more specific tips for parents.

Episode Wrap-Up

Now let’s kind of bring it all back in and recap the signs of burnout so that way you can be more prepared before it hopefully happens.

So the six signs of burnout are:

extreme exhaustion
negative thoughts
You’re easily irritated or impatient
You lack focus
You lack motivation or you procrastinate
And there may be some physical oddities

And to recap, the tips to prevent this burnout from happening as an online entrepreneur are to take breaks. Okay. Take multiple breaks in a day, not just once a week.

You also want to make sure that you are aligning your priorities. Go back and reference episode four if you need help with this specifically.

And three, you want to implement business systems to help you keep your business organized because it truly does help you feel less overwhelmed and also helps you see what your priorities are.

The other tip is to get some fresh air. Okay. Go outside, get some fresh air. Step away from your desk.

And that leads me right into the next one, which is practice self care. You really want to take care of yourself. I know that you have a business to run and your business is like your baby, but you need to take care of yourself.

Then you also really want to plan ahead because by planning ahead, it actually kind of helps you with all of these other things, right? If you’re planning ahead and you’re practicing flexible planning, you’re able to fit in and schedule some breaks, you’re able to see where your priorities are.

Your systems are helping you with this plan. So plan ahead. And if you are a blogger, go and reference episode six, where I share some specific blogs scheduling tips for you.

And then lastly, unplug from work. Unplug from work when you’re supposed to. So go enjoy your hobbies. Go outside, enjoy your kids. Enjoy your family. Watch movies, Netflix binge and chill, like whatever you want to do. But get away from your desk, get away from your laptop.

Don’t overwork yourself.So those are all of the different tips to help you prevent burnout as an online entrepreneur.

But in case you noticed, there was a trend here.

By implementing strategic systems, it kind of helps you with a lot of these other things that will help you prevent burnout.

So systems is just one piece of this big puzzle, and that’s why there is a whole episode coming next week, all about strategic systems. So be sure to come back next week and check that one out.

And I’m curious. Have you experienced burnout already? Take a screenshot of you listening to this episode and tag me on Instagram at cheerstoblogging and let me know if you’ve already experienced burnout as an entrepreneur. And if any of these tips resonated with you.

Thank you so much for listening to the Cheerful Productive Chats. To view the complete show notes and all the links mentioned in today’s episode, visit www.cheerstoproductivity.com/10.

And before you go, make sure you subscribe wherever you’re listening so that way you know once the next productive chat is released. Talk soon and cheers to your productivity and success!