What is Burnout and How to Prevent It

What is stress?

Before we can talk about burnout, we have to talk about stress. Stress is part of life, and without it, we would not be able to function. In many situations, stress can help us stay focused, solve problems, and respond to challenges.

Chronic stress, however, may cause harm to your physical and mental well-being. Working in a challenging environment, juggling ageing parents and small children, managing chronic pain or illness, financial pressures, and major life changes can all lead to chronic stress. When stress becomes a constant part of daily life and there is little opportunity to recover, the risk of burnout increases.

What is burnout?

Burnout can occur when we experience extended periods of excessive or chronic stress. While burnout is often associated with work, it can affect anyone. Parents, caregivers, students, healthcare workers, and people living with chronic illness can all experience burnout.

Burnout may lead to feelings of apathy, detachment, pessimism, and mental and physical exhaustion. Everyday tasks may start to feel overwhelming, and things that once felt meaningful may no longer bring a sense of satisfaction.

Mental health challenges such as depression and anxiety, as well as physical conditions such as inflammation, hypertension, and heart problems, may be present.

The psychology of burnout

Self-worth can become tied to productivity, making rest feel uncomfortable and slowing down feel impossible. You might feel that if you are not exhausted, you are not doing enough. Over time, the pressure to keep going can lead to burnout and leave you feeling disconnected from yourself.

The challenge is that many people do not know how to do things differently. Setting boundaries, recognising the early signs of burnout, and learning how to regulate stress are important skills. The good news is that there is growing awareness around mental well-being and nervous system regulation.

Identifying and treating burnout

Unlike signs of stress, which tend to dissipate after a stressful event, the effects of burnout are more severe and longer-lasting.

Burnout often develops gradually. Many people ignore the early warning signs because they believe they just need to push through. Recognising these signs early can help prevent burnout from becoming more severe.

Early warning signs may include:

● Increased irritability or frustration

● Difficulty concentrating or making decisions

● Feeling emotionally numb or disconnected

● Withdrawing from friends, family, or activities you usually enjoy

● Feeling tired even after resting

Common symptoms of burnout include:

● Little to no motivation

● A pessimistic attitude

● Extreme mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion

● Loss of purpose and feelings of hopelessness or emptiness

● Inability to meet obligations

If you, or anyone you know, is experiencing these symptoms, seeking help is crucial. Burnout is a serious condition and, in most cases, professional assistance is needed for a full recovery.

Support your burned-out loved ones by:

● Asking them how they would like to be supported

● Listening without judging or hijacking the conversation

● Encouraging them to seek help from a professional

● Not taking it upon yourself to fix the problem

Stress-Busting Tips

When it comes to avoiding burnout, it is all about prevention. Here are a few tips for keeping your stress levels under control.

Take regular short breaks during the day

Get up if you have been sitting for a long time and do a few stretches to get your blood flowing.

Breathe!

Controlled breathing exercises can help move your brain out of an anxious survival state. Inhale through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat 3–5 times.

Avoid multitasking and focus on one thing at a time

Get difficult tasks done first thing in the morning. Time-blocking can also help with time management.

Hydrate and refuel

Your brain consumes a lot of energy and needs to be refuelled regularly. Keep some nuts, seeds, and other healthy snacks at your desk.

Go easy on yourself

Develop positive and encouraging self-talk that is more compassionate and less self-critical.

Spend time with your nearest and dearest

Fostering deep connections with loved ones, friends, and family can provide a solid support network.

Make time for physical activity

Movement and exercise have brain-boosting benefits. Prioritise some form of movement that you enjoy, such as dancing, yoga, going to the gym, or taking a brisk walk.

Create boundaries where possible

Learning to say no, taking breaks from technology, and protecting time for rest can help prevent stress from building up over time. Boundaries are not selfish. They are an important part of maintaining your well-being.

Burnout does not happen overnight, and recovery takes time. Paying attention to the early signs, making small changes where you can, and seeking support when needed can make a meaningful difference to your mental and physical well-being.

Slaying the Imposter

Have you ever talked yourself out of applying for a job or felt like it is just a matter of time before you are going to be found out?

Well, you are in good company. Turns out that even the best of the best struggle with these kinds of thoughts and feelings. Albert Einstein (yes, THE Albert Einstein), once said that he feels like an “involuntary swindler”.

Imposter syndrome is not an actual syndrome but rather a psychological phenomenon. People that suffer from imposter syndrome reflect the belief that they are incompetent despite the evidence that they are qualified, capable and successful.

The Imposter often rears its head when a promotion is on the cards, when you’re thinking of applying for a job, or in the first week or two in a new role. Constant second-guessing yourself and debilitating self-doubt are some of the ways it shows up at work. Opportunities are often missed because you feel that you are not good enough or not capable enough.

Fear of failure, continued self-monitoring and increased self-doubt can negatively impact your career, as people often work longer hours and take on more work to prove that they are capable. 

This can lead to burnout which in turn could lead to slower work output, more mistakes and absenteeism due to illness.

Imagine holding a beach ball under the water for a period of time. It works for a short while, but then you get tired and no matter what you do and how hard you try, the beach ball will eventually pop up. Hiding the Imposter and the perceived incompetence that goes along with that, is trying to keep the beachball down. You are spending a huge amount of energy to keep everything under control, and it is, quite frankly, exhausting.

Instead of spending your time wisely and being productive, you resort to triple checking an email before hitting the send button, procrastinating, over-preparing, staying under the radar, not asking for help, and most importantly, not applying for that promotion.

When you feel that you do not belong or that you are incompetent, it is important to speak to a trusted mentor.  It will help to put your thoughts and feelings into perspective. Reassurance that you are not alone in feeling like an imposter helps to alleviate the feeling.

The power lies in exposing what we are trying to hide (in other words, do not try to keep the beachball under the water).

Another way to slay the Imposter is to understand the general nature of thoughts and feelings. Keep in mind that it is mostly your thoughts that create your feelings. You need to isolate the negative thoughts about your abilities, the meeting, your colleagues or the project that causes these feelings.  As soon as you can isolate the thoughts your aim is to observe them and not engage in them. 

A clever mantra to have on standby is “Ah, I am noticing I have a thought about my colleague that is submitting her work faster than me”. In other words, you are creating distance between you and your thoughts.

In conclusion, imposter syndrome can be a debilitating experience for many individuals, leading to missed opportunities and negative impacts on one's career. It is important to remember that even the most successful people have struggled with these feelings, and that it is normal to have self-doubt. The key is to address these thoughts and feelings head-on, by speaking with a trusted mentor, understanding the nature of thoughts and feelings, and not trying to hide or suppress them. By taking these steps, you can begin to tame the imposter-like feelings and take action towards your goals and dreams.

What is BWRT?

BWRT® or BrainWorking® Recursive Therapy is probably the most exciting and effective therapeutic modality that you’ve never heard about. But we’re going to take an in-depth look at what BWRT is, and more importantly, what BWRT can do for you.

Put simply, BWRT is a powerful neuroscience technique that works directly on your brain

to change unhelpful patterns and negative ways of thinking. And it works quickly!

Mind the Gap

BWRT came about as a result of a very small gap. A gap of 0.35 milliseconds, which is the time it takes between the brain's automatic response to a stimulus, and you becoming consciously aware of what just happened.

Your brain is wired to protect you. Structures such as the amygdala are constantly scanning for safety or threat, shaping emotional responses and automatic reactions, often before your conscious mind has had a chance to make sense of what is happening. It also prefers to be efficient, so instead of you having to really think through each and every decision, it takes a bit of a short-cut.  And it serves up pre-programmed responses for different stimuli.  So the response is automatic, you don’t have to think about it.

By the time you become aware of your response, it’s already a done deal.

WAIT - What?

Now, this is pretty great, and works in our favour when it comes to things like braking suddenly to prevent a car accident. It happens on ‘auto-pilot’.  It’s also seriously fast.  

Our brains do a lot on auto-pilot. They quietly go about their business sorting through huge amounts of data, and they prefer to do so without involving you, thank you very much. And then your lizard brain categorises the data and creates an automated response.  In effect, it’s creating a massive database of patterns.

So, if you experience a similar event, or trigger, your brain, very helpfully goes through its database and serves up a preprogrammed response that it feels matches the trigger.

“The brain doesn’t assign values to its responses. So, it doesn’t think ‘This is a good response’, or ‘This is a bad response’, it just goes with the response it knows and files it as ‘response’.”

What happens if the brain encounters something completely new? Logic dictates that it creates a new response for this new pattern. And when it next encounters this pattern, it serves up its brand spanking new response.

And this system works pretty well for us - most of the time.

But sometimes the brain makes a mistake.

For instance, you receive the stimulus, and your brain serves up the associated auto-response.

But you feel terrible!

You know you've completely overreacted.

And you really don't like the way you feel, or the way that you responded.

But worst of all, you can’t even understand why you reacted the way you did.

Be Gentle with Yourself

Remember: the auto-response was served up in a matter of milliseconds - before your pre-frontal cortex, or the part of your brain that makes you, well – YOU- was even aware of what was going on.

BWRT stands out as a ground breaking and remarkably efficient psychotherapeutic approach pioneered by Terence Watts in 2011. Its rapid efficacy sets it apart, achieving profound transformation in minimal sessions.

How Does BWRT Work?

At its core, BWRT offers a straightforward yet potent method to accelerate therapy by addressing the distressing emotions linked to fears, memories, or past experiences.

Traditional therapy modalities focus on trying to change the symptom that arises in the conscious mind or pre-frontal cortex, but BWRT is the ultimate disruptor, and simply prevents the symptom from getting to the conscious mind in the first place.

BWRT interrupts the old established pattern, and by using your own very powerful, active imagination it creates a far more desirable and helpful response. And then it tells your brain that the road with the old, unhelpful and undesirable response is now CLOSED.  It puts up a little barricade, let’s the weeds grow over the old path and redirects traffic along the new neural pathway of your preferred response.

BWRT Sounds Simple, Right?

Well, that’s just one of the reasons we absolutely love BWRT. We also love BWRT as a therapeutic modality because it’s:

• Fast.

• Safe

• Reliable

BWRT works in person, or online.

And it is ideal for trauma

BWRT is often described as a quick fix, and it is, but it also produces a deep, meaningful and lasting change.

What can BWRT be Used for?

BWRT has proved to be incredibly effective in treating a number of issues, including:

• Anger Management

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Low self-esteem and confidence issues

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

• PTSD

• Phobias including fear of flying and fear of speaking in public

• Procrastination

• Relationship issues

• Trauma

• Weight management

• Addictions and Compulsive behaviours including alcohol addiction, gambling, social media, binge eating, shopping

And the list goes on.

Frequently Asked Questions Around BWRT

Do I need to relive the traumatic event or fears during a BWRT session?

No.  And that is just another massive drawcard for BWRT as a therapeutic modality.

You don't have to relive any traumatic events or fears.

I've been trying to deal with certain issues for a long time. Will this affect my results?

No.  It doesn't make the least bit of difference.

It doesn't matter whether you've had the issue for 30 years or 3 months.

Are there any side effects to BWRT?

No.

Some people may feel a little disconnected, or alternatively very tired after a session.

We recommend drinking water and getting a good night's rest.

Can BWRT work for performance enhancement?

Absolutely. BWRT can positively affect performance whether it’s athletics, business, relationships, sex, driving, exams, public speaking, and a host of others.

Does BWRT take long to work?

No. BWRT works really fast.  Sometimes only a couple of sessions of BWRT is all that is needed. And even in cases of serious issues, BWRT is still one of the fastest therapies around.

Why Should I Consider BWRT?

BWRT literally changes the pathways in your brain that causes feeling of panic, overwhelming fear, anxiety and other unhelpful responses.

But just to clarify - this is when these responses are UNHELPFUL

So for instance, if you are not in any real danger, but your brain and body responds as though you were - crippling anxiety when speaking in front of people or living with constant flashbacks and horrific memories of a very real traumatic experience that negatively affects you and your quality of life

BWRT helps to alter your responses. It is an incredibly powerful client centered modality that uses your imagination to redirect and alter your responses.