Hello! One of my patients has been dealing with a lot of work stress recently, and we've been working on ways to avoid burnout. Let me share some practical exercises that you might find helpful.
First exersice is called "The Gratidude Journal". Let's learn how to focus on the positive aspects of your life. Take a moment to write down three achievements that you're grateful for today. Even if you may have accomplished something small today, like mastering Google Forms, take note of it. It's the small victories that add up to a successful life. The key to this exercise is consistency. Even if it feels like nothing noteworthy happened today, try to jot down those three points. You'll be amazed at how much better you will feel in just a few days.
Let's move on to the second exercise. Do you feel the constant need to grow, develop, and be effective? All of these feelings can lead to stress and burnout. Thoughts like "If I don't develop, I will degrade," "Without me everything will fall apart," and "I won't be needed by everyone if I'm not the best" add worry, tension, and stress, leading to exhaustion and lack of energy.
Today I'd love to tell you how to track and change our thoughts to influence our emotions and behavior.
- Start by writing down all the work demands swirling around in your head. When you see them in front of your eyes, you are much less critical of them.
- Evaluate how true these thoughts are. Will your company go bankrupt if you don't complete all the tasks today? Can you control everything by spending all your time on the phone?
- Do you really think you are terribly illiterate, unqualified, and unsuccessful? Could it be that you are exaggerating your failures? If so, why do you think that?
- Ask yourself "why do you need this?" Why do you need to constantly think about tasks or work? What should change in your life as a result?
If you have thoughts of being successful or effective, don't rob yourself of them. Instead, ask yourself why you need these thoughts and how they may help or hinder you. Think about what more appropriate thoughts you could replace old ideas with. For example, instead of constant work for 24 hours, it could be thought "If I answer messages twice a day instead of all 24 hours, the world won't fall apart, but I will be more focused and calm."
Finally, one more great news. Together with FeelYou team we are working on a complete course that will teach you more about the roots of burnout and how to address this issue.
Coming soon.
Hello!
First, it is vital to understand what is real and what is your supposition in this situation. You say “I know deep down he did not understand how I felt”. How did you see that? Are you sure this is true? Let’s assume that your supposition is correct. What are you going to do next? Are you ready to be with a person who doesn’t understand your emotions? How much does this factor mean to you? One more thing. Imagine that relationship with your boyfriend will never change, it will be always the same as it is now. Are you ready to continue it like this? Very often when we start relationship we put on pink glasses and fail to see any faults or peculiarities of the partner. But one day it would be impossible to ignore them. Then these faults serve as a reason for a breakup. Surely, people change, but not all of them, not very often and not in every way. What is more important, this decision must be made by the person himself, nobody should force him to do it. In order to look at the situation from the side and make an informative decision, I suggest doing an exercise.
Take three small sheets of paper. Write down your name on the first one, the name of your partner on the second one and the phrase “outside observer” on the third one. Put them so that they form a triangle, about one meter apart from each other. First step on the sheet of paper with your name on it. Answer the following questions. “How do I feel being in relationship with … (the name of your boyfriend)? What emotions do I have towards him? What would I like to tell him right now?” Then step on the sheet of paper with your boyfriend’s name on it. Imagine that you are your boyfriend. Ask yourself the same questions, but this time they will concern you. Then proceed to the third position. Your task here is to look at the situation from the side. Answer the following questions. “What does the relationship of … and … (your names here) look like? What would I advise each of them? What are the reasonable ways of solving this situation?”. Then put these sheets of paper away and make a pause. Take a walk or do something. After a while the right decision will come into your mind.