Burnout is real. I know because I’ve experienced it myself a few times in my life (I wrote about the experience here). The feeling of exhaustion, the total lack of motivation and enthusiasm… it’s a feeling that I’m sure you’ve felt at least once or twice before while working long hours at a tedious, soul-sucking job.
But the truth is, burnout can happen to anyone in any job. It happens to CEOs and entry-level employees alike. If you’re building your dream business from the ground up, you may be cruising toward burnout.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Taking a much-needed step away from your work can be rejuvenating and give you the perspective you need to be more effective as a leader. Here’s how to tell if you need a break from work, and what you can do to create sustainable, long-lasting business foundations so you can worry less and enjoy your life more.
How to Tell if You’re Burned Out
According to experts, burnout has quite a few symptoms. You may experience a few—or all—of them on a daily basis:
- You’re not excited about work anymore – you don’t feel fulfilled by your job
- You’re no longer putting in effort – it’s difficult to feel enthusiastic about your work
- Your general performance is down – you’re making mistakes that normally you’d catch
- You feel completely exhausted, all the time – your body and mind are both tired
- You’re suffering physical symptoms – think insomnia, headaches, or gastrointestinal pain
Perhaps you’re not feeling any burnout symptoms yet, but you do feel overworked, stressed, and like you’re getting nowhere. No matter what—it’s not ideal. It’s time to take a step back.
Hire – Because Businesses Are Powered by People
Hiring is my number one recommendation for burned-out business owners. Quite simply, you need more manpower on your team to share the workload. Plus, hiring empowers you to tap into business area experts that you’ve been lacking.
Getting the right talent on your team takes work off your plate and enables you to be CEO—not CEO, social media manager, email marketer, and developer all wrapped into one. From the CEO seat, you can focus on the bigger picture, not worry about sizing social media images.
Invest in Small Business Tools
Part of running a successful business is getting the right tools in place so everything runs smoothly. Small business tools like Asana and Google Drive can help you organize tasks, manage projects, and oversee your team’s productivity. Other tools, like MailChimp, have marketing automation capabilities that remove the need for some of the tedious, day-to-day work you’re doing. These tools are affordable, easy to use, and will quickly become essential to your daily business functioning.
Take a Social Media Break
This one is simple but so impactful. Social media often makes us feel like we need to keep up with the Joneses. You may feel like you’re not doing enough in comparison to other CEOs, or maybe you feel like you’re doing everything wrong. Take a break. Log off. Social media will still be there in a day, week, or two weeks. You deserve time to relax, recharge, and not feel pressured by social media.
Set Strong Business Foundations
Is your business set up for long-term success? Getting solid business foundations will help you sleep more soundly at night (and give you increased ability to take a break from working and entrust your team to guide the ship). Examine your brand values, marketing strategy, finances, team, and business analytics. Where is there room for improvement? Are you prepared for the “what ifs?”
If you’re feeling burned out, know you’re not alone. Taking a break from work to recharge is essential for long-term business stability. Let’s get started—reach out and learn how I can help you overcome burnout and feel motivated and enthusiastic about growing your dream business.
