Tag anxiety

6 Hacks for Burnout and Overwhelm – Dealing with burnout or being overwhelmed are both consequences of high amounts of stress. With overwhelm, you might be experiencing stress for a long time, which leads you to becoming overwhelmed with everything you are thinking and dealing with at the same time.

Burnout is similar, though it is typically when you become so exhausted mentally and physically, then it can affect your work, motivation, and energy.

Here are some hacks and tips that will help you to overcome both burnout and overwhelm.

1. A Healthy Body Means a Healthy Mind

Getting past your burnout, stress, and overwhelm always starts with your physical health. Not just because stress can affect you physically and actually make you ill, but because when you eat right and exercise, it has a long list of benefits for you.

If you want a healthy mind, you need to start with a healthy body. This means eating a healthy, well-balanced diet with lots of fruits, veggies, lean protein, and whole grains. Get regular exercise and don’t forget to drink your water each day.

These small changes will make a big difference in your physical health, which will in turn help your mental health as well.

2. Stop Focusing on Time | 6 Hacks for Burnout and Overwhelm

Everything is always about time. Making time for your family, making time for work, looking at the clock every few minutes during your workday, trying to get out of the house with enough time to spare. All of this focus on time, whether it is time you feel you wasted, time to get stuff done, and feeling like your time is running out, causes a lot of unnecessary stress.

There are certain aspects of life where time is relevant, such as getting to an appointment or meeting on time, but don’t make your entire life revolve around time. It can be very overwhelming.

3. Stay Mindful of Positive Changes and a Better Outlook

When you have full-on burnout, it can be hard to use standard stress relief methods. By this point, you are having trouble just getting the bare minimum done, especially when you add in stress and overwhelm at the same time.

Instead of putting too much pressure on yourself, just start slow. One excellent “hack” to use is to be mindful during one moment every day. During that moment, give yourself a few minutes to re-focus your energy from a negative thing to a positive thing.

Maybe you are in your office after a meeting that caused you a lot of stress and tension, so you sit for 5 minutes and are mindful about something positive you feel right now.

This could be gratitude for this job you worked so hard for, happiness for your family and friends, or just understanding that the stressful situation is over and now you can appreciate you got through it.

4. Don’t Work Through Lunch | 6 Hacks for Burnout and Overwhelm

Stop working non stop! Working more is NOT going to help you overcome burnout. You need a break. Your body and mind need rest. If you work too much all week long, then when the weekend comes, you have no energy left to live your life.

One small thing you can start doing right now is taking proper lunch breaks. Stop eating lunch at your desk, and stop talking to people on your phone when you’re eating lunch out of the office. Turn off your phone, enjoy this time, be mindful of your meal, and just relax. Work will be there waiting for you when your break is over.

5. Find What Gives You Positive Energy

Look for that thing in each day that makes you feel positive and happy. This is going to encourage more positive energy, which can then help to relieve some of the stress and tension you have been experiencing.

Again, this will be unique to you and your situation. It can be related to your home, your job, people in your life, achieving your goals, having accomplished something you put your mind to, being more physically healthy, losing weight, just about anything. Sky’s the limit on this one.

6. Start Saying No | 6 Hacks for Burnout and Overwhelm

Even if you have always been the person other people can count on to help them, you don’t have to be everything to everyone. You have every right to say no to hosting a party, declining an offer to go out on your only night off this week, to doing an extra project at work.

You need to learn how to say no when you are already overwhelmed with all your own responsibilities.

Therapy in Brandon

If you find that you’re feeling burnout more than often, or you’re noticing that your stress or anxiety is especially high during the fall season, know that you’re not alone, we encourage you to reach out. Our counsellor here at Bliss Counselling & Wellness Centre have experience working with anxiety, stress, grief, trauma, depression, and so much more. We offer both in-person and online services. To learn more, reach out to us at 431-302-8803, or go here and fill out an online form!

Why Anxiety and Depression Can Get Worse in the Fall – While fall is the favorite season among many people, others struggle with it because of how it affects their mental health. You might be one of the unlucky people who have a hard time with your emotional state in the fall, dealing with worsened anxiety and depression. Here is more information about why this might be happening and what you can do about it.

What is Autumn Anxiety?

The first mental health change you might notice in the fall season is with your anxiety. Many people have noticed that their anxiety seems to peak around the time fall begins – but why? This is sometimes referred to as autumn anxiety, a type of anxiety that is triggered by the fall season. This is because the change between summer and fall can often feel like a drastic one. Your days get shorter, the weather changes, your routine is different, holidays are coming up, and it just feels like everything is different and more stressful.

Dealing with Seasonal Depression | Why Anxiety and Depression Can Get Worse in the Fall

You might also be someone who has worsened depression in the fall, which can happen for a number of different reasons. However, the most common reason is from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. SAD is often the result of the seasons changing, particularly with the gloomier, darker weather you get in the fall and winter. If you live somewhere with a lot of rain and cold days in the fall, then you are likely to get it this time of year.

It can give you all the same symptoms as other forms of depression, including mood changes, low energy, lack of motivation, lethargy, and simply feeling blue.

What You Can Do About it

While it can be difficult getting through the fall season with anxiety and/or depression, you are not alone, and there IS help available to you. Here are some ways to get relief from your anxiety and depression this season:

• Light therapy for SAD – If you suffer from SAD, one of the best options for you is light therapy. SAD typically occurs in the fall and winter because of the longer nights, darker days, and gloomy weather. Naturally, light therapy, called phototherapy, is the way to go. There are light boxes you can use indoors that give you bright light to reduce those depression symptoms.
• Writing in a journal – Journaling is a simple daily practice that can help with both anxiety and depression.
• Practicing your breathing exercises – Breathing exercises help with anxiety the most, allowing you to be mindful for a few minutes, and focus on relaxing your mind and body. They are also fantastic for getting through a panic attack.
• Seeking professional help – Please do not hesitate to reach out to a doctor or therapist if you need medication or talk therapy. There is so much they can help you with when your anxiety or depression is too much to handle.

If you’re noticing that your anxiety is worse in the fall, know that you’re not alone. This is a common experience for many people. However, it’s important to understand why this happens and how to manage your autumn anxiety. If you want more information about autumn anxiety or any other type of mental health concern, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would be happy to help you get the support and resources that you need.

Therapy in Brandon

If you find that you’re feeling stuck more than often, or you’re noticing that your anxiety is especially high during the fall season, know that you’re not alone, we encourage you to reach out. Our counsellor here at Bliss Counselling & Wellness Centre have experience working with anxiety, stress, grief, trauma, depression, and so much more. We offer both in-person and online services. To learn more, reach out to us at 431-302-8803, or go here and fill out an online form!

About the Author

Unhelpful thinking styles are those that we use to think about things in a way that can cause problems. Unhelpful thinking styles are sometimes called cognitive distortions or common thinking traps. These unhelpful ways of thinking often lead to negative feelings and emotions such as anxiety, sadness, anger, helplessness or frustration. This is an important concept for parents and educators to understand because it will help them teach their children how to think in a more positive way leading to improved behaviour. Everyone has some unhelpful thoughts from time-to-time but some people have more than others. It’s important for us all to recognize these unhelpful thoughts so we can avoid set-backs and feel better about ourselves and our lives.

This blog post provides several examples of unhelpful thinking styles such as all or nothing, minimizing, mind-reading, jumping to conclusion and so on.

Catastrophizing

It is very easy to get caught up in unhelpful thinking styles, and it can be hard to realize you are doing so. Catastrophizing is a common unhelpful thinking style where people “blow things out of proportion” and see the worst possible scenario. It may also appear that they have a very negative or untrue perspective on reality.

All or Nothing

All or nothing thinking is a type of unhelpful thinking style that can lead to problems in daily life. It occurs when you see things as either good or bad, with no middle ground. For example, if you make one mistake on an exam, you might think “I’m stupid” and feel like it’s pointless to study for the remaining exams. This may cause you not to do well on other exams because your thoughts are so negative about yourself. All or nothing thinking is often associated with depression and anxiety disorders but can also affect people without mental illness. All-or-nothing thinking makes it difficult to cope with everyday stressors by creating feelings of failure and self-criticism rather than motivating us toward positive change.

Mind-Reading

Mind reading is when you assume that other people are thinking negatively about you or your actions. It could be as vague as assuming that someone doesn’t like you, or it could be as specific as assuming that a certain person thinks something negative about something specific.

Jumping-to-Conclusions

Jumping to conclusions is a form of unhelpful thinking style. It’s when we make negative assumptions about something without much evidence. We often end up feeling frustrated or angry because our expectations weren’t met. We’re all guilty of jumping to conclusions sometimes, but it does us no good and can cause significant problems in relationships with others and ourselves.

Over-Generalization

Over-Generalization is one of the unhelpful thinking styles that people with anxiety deal with. It’s when someone views a single negative event as part of an overall pattern of defeat. They see it as a reflection on their abilities in general, rather than just a momentary setback.

More so, over-generalization is a common unhelpful thinking style, and one that many people struggle with on a daily basis. Although it may seem like the simplest of all unhelpful thinking styles, over-generalization can be quite harmful. It prevents us from focusing on aspects of life (positive or negative) that need our attention.

Minimizing Unhelpful

Minimizing is one of the unhelpful thinking styles where people tend to disqualify the positive or minimize their accomplishments. They would rather push focus onto someone else.

The unhelpful thinking styles we’ve covered in this blog post can lead to feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. Fortunately, it is possible for us all to change these thought patterns with mindful awareness and some targeted strategies. If any of these examples resonate with you, and you would like to learn more, please contact us to discuss how we may be able to help!

---

Emem Iniobong, is a Brandon MB, Canadian Certified Counsellor who helps children, teens, young adults, parents, and families in dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, parenting support to live a more fulfilled and bliss-full life.