We’ve all been there: Overwhelmed with work, busy with your kids’ schedules or just rundown with the chaos of life. Most people don’t take the time to recharge and reflect; rather they push through, day after day, repeating the grind over and over. Respect to all who hustle but what happens when you get to the point of total burnout? Stress, anxiety, decreased efficiency, illness and more are all by-products of the burnout. So how do we as humans avoid this fate? Here are five tips to help you avoid burnout.

1. Make Time for Your Passions

If you don’t have the time to do the things you love and are passionate about, you need to make the time! There are 24 hours in a day. Manage your time better. Take an hour or two out of your day and do something you love. It could be knitting, jogging or even just reading. Whatever it is, take the time to do it!

I find my happy place on the ice. Playing hockey takes me away from any thoughts about work, relationships or real life. For that hour I’m free, everything else seems to disappear from my mind giving me the chance to mentally recharge and sometimes take out a little aggression. 😉

2. Eat Properly

A poor diet can and will contribute to burnout. Many people, and even I, will admit to being guilty of this at some points in life. My excuses were fatigue, not having tons of money for healthy food or being just too busy to actually cook for myself. Whatever the reason, most of the time it just comes down to being too lazy.

Over the course of my late-twenties, I became more and more interested in cooking and began to realize the meals I could make with the food I had in my fridge and cupboards. I became very resourceful and was able to make some great healthy meals. Fast forward to present day, being resourceful and knowing my way around the kitchen has helped me get through some lean times as we hustle our way through the early startup phase of FanSaves.

3. Exercise Daily

Don’t let life get in the way of looking after your body. You don’t need a fancy gym membership or hundreds of dollars in supplements to live your best life! There are thousands of YouTube workout videos that you can watch which require no weights, fitness clubs or workout buddies. Your health is number one. Don’t neglect your body or make excuses for why you can’t workout.

4. Be Kind to One Another

Ellen DeGeneres says it best: “Be kind to one another”! Hate and anger can manifest inside of you and the people who you take it out on the most are often loved ones or close friends. This can cause tension and generally make you someone people don’t want to be around. This in turn causes more stress as you try to repair fractured relationships. Life is too short to be angry and negative vibes aren’t good for anyone. People want to be surrounded by positive people.

I pride myself on core values like being polite, respectful and empathetic towards others. I have found that good things tend to gravitate to me because of this. I’ve had some shitty bosses during my professional career who treated me in ways that don’t align with these values but it’s all taught me how to be a better leader.

5. Don’t Get Discouraged

Even when things go wrong or you’re having a bad day, always seek out the silver lining and ask yourself “What can I learn from this?”

Every time something negative happens in my life I always wonder a few things: Why did this happen? What can I learn from this? And how can I avoid this from happening in the future? Don’t dwell on things, take the time to reflect and if need be take the time to be sad but get right up and know that tomorrow is a new day. Take responsibility and avoid the blame game, it will make you a better leader in the long run.

As Jim Rohn once said “The same wind blows on us all; the winds of disaster, opportunity and change. Therefore, it is not the blowing of the wind, but the setting of the sails that will determine our direction in life.” I like to remember these words during times when I need to relax and avoid my own burnout and I hope you can find some encouragement in them as well.

Kris McCarthy
Co-Founder & COO
FanSaves