A Guide to Preventing Burnout in Your 20s

If you’re in your twenties, I bet you’ve experienced burnout at least once.

Twenty-somethings put a lot of pressure on themselves to be more successful in various aspects of their lives such as their achievements, productivity levels, money in the bank, fame, beauty, and more.

One of the causes, is due to excessive exposure of capitalism, hustle culture, and materialism through social media. The glorifying of these topics conditions this generation into associating self-worth to the external. Causing many of them to reach ridiculous measures in order to maintain their desired level of perfection.

I hate to break it to you, but perfection is not sustainable. In fact it is one of the most damaging things we can do to ourselves. One of the consequences from over-exertion is facing burnout.

By definition, burnout is a reaction to prolonged stress and is characterized exhaustion, feelings of cynicism, and reduced professional ability.

In this post, I will explain my guide to recovery and prevention when facing burnout. You’ll learn tips on how to recognize your specific burnout symptoms, the consequences of failing to accept them, and how to cultivate better habits for a healthier lifestyle.

So, what's the first step to preventing burnout?

1. Awareness

Initially, the goal is to become aware of how your habits and psychology promote this negative cycle. If you’ve experienced burnout before, chances are you will again. One of the best ways to strengthen awareness, is to educate yourself on the common symptoms of burnout. Learning these signs, allow you can catch it sooner without jeopardizing your wellbeing.

Some of the early signs of burnout include:

Apathy/numbness
Boredom
Neglecting your needs
Developing bad habits
Loss of motivation
Loss of productivity
Irritable behaviour
Escapist mentality

2. Acceptance

Once you’ve reached a certain level of awareness, now is the time to accept that burnout is happening. Many people live in denial during the earlier stages of burnout, and wish for things to improve without actively participating in the recovery process.

Psychology trick

Do you struggle with accepting burnout even after knowing the signs? I’ve been there. But in order to begin the recovery process, this is a step you can’t ignore. You need to change your mindset.

Get a piece of paper and start brainstorming of the following.

First, start revisting the pain caused by past burnout. Maybe you got really sick, didn’t have the energy to see your friends, starting failing your classes, showing up late for work, etc.

Second, visualize the happiness from achieving a better work/life balance. These benefits could include an increase in productivity, a promotion, better physical and mental health, or motivation to see friends and family again.

By doing this trick, you’re encouraging your unconscious mind to accept uncomfortable moments. The only way to trick the ego is to explain how this new lifestyle will get you out of pain, and make way for positive change.

3. Analysis

In order to create a healthier lifestyle, it’s important to rid (or detox) yourself from habits that don’t serve you. The goal at this step is to learn new habits for balance, while refurbishing your old habits if they aren’t working.

Are you missing meals?

Going to bed too late?

Not taking breaks?

Making time to move your body?

Start brainstorming about what habits promote your lifestyle of hustle culture. For some, these habits are unconscious acts. Meaning, you don’t intentionally miss a meal, you’ve just lost track of time while working and forgot to check the time. (Sometimes this happens to me when I’m painting or in a creative flow)

Rather than build a new habit from this issue, create a proper support system in order stay on track.

4. Scheduling time for daily rest.

The last step is to implement a routine that doesn’t result in burnout. Sometimes these are conscious acts that promote an unhealthy work/life balance. If this is the case, you need to tie more pain to this unhealthy habit, and more pleasure with the healthier option.

Most creatives and highly ambitious people, deal with unconscious acts that promote burnout. Here are a few things you can do to remind yourself to rest:

Are you missing meals?

Try meal prepping on Sundays when you don’t have much going on. Also, stick to the same time schedule for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For extra assistance, set a reminder on your phone to take a break and have a bite to eat.

Going to bed too late?

Stay off your phone 30mins-1hour before bedtime. And no, yellow glasses or the night shift doesn’t count (sorry). Just like your eating patterns, it’s important to stick to the same sleep schedule during the week. For the weekend, I try not to fluctuate more than 2-3 hours to get back into my weekly schedule with less difficulty.

Week:

6:00am morning

9:00pm no phone

10:00pm bedtime

Weekend (sometimes a little earlier/later depending on my day):

9:00am morning

11:30pm no phone

12:30am bedtime

Not taking breaks?

Follow the Pomodoro Method. This technique splits your workday into 25 minute chunks with five-minute breaks. Each interval is known as a “pomodoro”. After 4 pomodoros, you take a break of 15-20 minutes before repeating.

🍅 = 25 mins work / 5 min rest

🍅🍅🍅🍅 = 15/20 minute rest

repeat!

Side note: Maybe I will create an entire blog post about this topic because I LOVE it. I found that I could get way more work done with this technique than before!

Making time to move your body?

The pomodoro method works hand-in-hand with this topic because a Medical News Today article explains how you should move your body every 30 mins. In fact, it may help you live longer! Not only does regular body movement help reduce the harms of sedentary behaviour, a study discovered that for the participants who kept their sitting to under 30 mins, they were at the “lowest risk of death from all causes during follow-up”.

Constant movement also promotes enough circulation in your lymphatic system, to reduce the feeling of tiredness. Thus, simultaneously feeling healthier and becoming more efficient!

These simple techniques of creating timers and reminders in your phone is something very simple, but powerful if you struggle with sticking to a routine that promotes a better work/life balance. If you enjoyed this article, follow us on instagram, pinterest and tiktok for more motivation!