Four Tips on How to Prioritize YOU and Prevent Burnout

by Rachel Strauss 

A friend of mine was going through a period of hardship, battling mental health issues while trying to balance all the other aspects of her life. She confided in me that she needed to take an absence from work because, as she declared to me, “her mental health matters.”
This struck me as emotional, eye-opening, and courageous...to have the awareness to be able to recognize exactly what she needed at that moment. Taking care of yourself should always be a top priority, although life often gets in the way. The tricky part is how to accomplish taking control of those priorities.

Here are Four Tips on How to Prioritize YOU and Prevent Burnout:
1. Create Boundaries
One of the most important factors in prioritizing yourself is creating boundaries in every setting, especially those you spend most of your time on, such as work. Some of these boundaries might include separating work and personal life. By doing so, you will ensure the two do not overlap and you are still given the “personal space” you need. By setting a specific time and creating a ritual to end the workday is another boundary that can help prevent overworking and allow more time for other activities. By creating boundaries, you will allow yourself to not be over-consumed and feel refreshed going into each new day.

2. What Do You Need?
It is often a struggle to figure out what exactly you need to better or help yourself. It is said that the best advice-givers can never take their own advice. Self-care should be of the utmost importance in one's life practice, though we all know how easily that can fall off the tracks. Figuring out exactly what you need is difficult, though taking time off can be extremely beneficial to your mental health. With time off, you might open the door to exercising regularly, eating cleaner and feeding your body with nutrients, making sleep a priority, and straightening out priorities.

3. You are Not Alone
The National Institute of Mental Health states that one in every five adults experiences mental health struggles. Knowing you are not alone is important- there is always help available and people to talk to no matter the case. Some good resources for this might be a therapy support group or even reading blog posts on others' challenges and how they are handling their challenges.   

4. Mindfulness Matters
The idea of mindfulness is to be completely aware of the present and surroundings. By being mindful of the present, you will have more awareness of how you are feeling at specific moments in time. Reduction of stress and increased relaxation are common outcomes of mindfulness. By paying attention to, and becoming one with your thoughts, you will lead yourself to a calmer, stress-free life.
Whatever it is we are looking to achieve, prioritizing ourselves, being mindful, and creating boundaries are the first steps. Being kind to yourself is so important. Ready to prioritize you?