Ready to throw in the towel? Are you starting to think that standing on the street corner dressed up as Mr. Peanuts is preferable to running a consulting business?
Don’t believe your thoughts for a second. You may be suffering from burnout. That’s a state of long-term exhaustion, physical, mental, and emotional. You feel like you’re running on empty, drained of energy.
A feeling of persistent emptiness and meaninglessness can often be caused by the gulf between what you expected from your work and what you got.
You may be suffering from burnout if you’ve been experiencing the following symptoms:
- Irritable
- Annoyed
- Misunderstood
- Unappreciated
- Depressed
- Frustrated
- Diminished interest
- Feeling numb
Who gets burnout? Anyone! Consultants are definitely not immune to burnout. If anything, the demands of being a successful consultant could make you even more susceptible. And if you happen live in a society that prizes independence—like the U.S.—you’re more prone to burnout. If, on top of that, you’re a depressive, or prone to anger or anxiety, you should take preemptive measures so that you don’t experience nervous collapse.
If you’re on the brink or are experiencing its effects right now, the first thing you should do is to take your condition seriously. Burnout can threaten your work, your relationships, and your health.
As soon as you’ve recognized your condition for what it is, you should identify your sources of frustration and try to reduce or eliminate them entirely. Enlist the help of a life coach if you can.
Here are other steps you can take to recover:
- Take vacation days, even if only for a day
- Reduce your number of commitments
- Run away from certain clients/projects—or raise your rates
- Get out of the house or the office
- Start an exercise program if you’re not regularly exercising
- Change your diet to a more healthful one
And, while we’re on the subject: Take a vacation. Again.
Enough said?
