“I am burned”. Perhaps this phrase rings a bell because you have ever felt it. It is a feeling of exhaustion that goes beyond feeling stress or feeling that we are handling several dishes in the air at the same time. When one presents the Burn out syndrome, one feels a physical, mental and emotional exhaustion; he gets irritated easily, and sees that no matter how much he does, he is less and less productive and feels that he does not give more of himself. Burn out is the result of prolonged exposure to stress.
The reality is that dealing with work and with our personal and family life is not easy. No person is free from burnout and we all have mental health, so we need to know how to identify this problem and how to prevent and treat it.
How can we protect ourselves from burn out? The key: incorporate healthy, cognitive, emotional, or behavioral habits into our day-to-day life that protect us from the changing and stressful situations we experience. One way is to respect the breaks for breaks and food. Another is to balance the time I spend at work and the time I spend with myself or my family.
What I mean is that taking care of oneself is a personal responsibility. Taking care of oneself includes paying attention and interpreting the signals of our body and the emotions we feel. Taking care of oneself means making the necessary changes to increase our well-being.
One way to take care of ourselves is by practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness means intentionally paying attention to the present moment. Being here and now. Stop certain times of the day to pay attention to our breathing or to some part of our body. When we make these stops, we recharge the mind. When we put our attention on a specific place in our body, we learn to observe our thoughts and emotions instead of ruminating and getting hooked on them. Mindfulness helps us gain perspective and create a space to respond and not react to life situations.
I encourage you to download free applications like Petit Bambou, Elefante Zen or Calm. In them, you will find audios where you can practice: 5, 30 or 45 minutes. You choose what you can that day.
Remember what Albert Einstein once said: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results." If you feel bad, try to incorporate different habits such as the practice of mindfulness. If exhaustion continues, then it's time to ask for help.
María José Ortega, Health Psychologist