Self-Care to prevent Burnout and Fatigue: Ways to nourish yourself
The words ‘Self-Care’ are used to describe those things we do to sustain ourselves through difficulties and help us feel buoyant. A useful way to think of it is that we have various ways in which we can nourish ourselves. There’s the way that is most obvious – the food we eat. And then there are other ways – the music we listen to, the books that we read, the artwork and scenery that we look at, the conversations that we engage in. All these activities feed us through our senses.
How to start:
- Take a moment to remember a conversation or interaction that really nourished you. What were you talking about? Who were you with? Perhaps it was with close friends or colleagues talking about a topic that really mattered to all of you? Maybe you came away from it feeling calmer, or clearer, or more alive?
- Then take a moment to remember a conversation or interaction that left you feeling drained – perhaps you felt somehow diminished by it.
- You can apply this same exercise to the music you listen to, the books and articles that you read, what you spend time looking at (which can include what you wear), as well as, of course, the food that you eat.
- Having made a mental (or actual) list of what nourishes you and what doesn’t – the next step can be to decide what a really healthy, sustaining way of living looks like for you – food, reading, conversations, music, what you look at, what you wear.
Nourishing ourselves like this helps us face and work with the inevitable difficulties of life and work. Rates of burnout and fatigue are rising in Australia. The latest ELMO survey of Australian workers (reported in April this year) found that almost half are feeling burnt out – a 10% increase on the same period last year. The increase is attributed to our increased workloads – 24% said they had taken more responsibilities in their jobs, and 32% feel overwhelmed with the amount of work they need to do. This is coupled with 44% of survey respondents saying they want things to change and are seeking greener pastures – they are planning to look for a different job this year.
Self-care is an activity we can do both individually and collectively as a whole organisation. As an individual you can ask yourself what ways of living nourish you. As a leader or manager, you can ask your employees how they are finding their workplace and workload, and what nourishes them.
We’ll never get it perfect – but we can nudge things along, paying attention to what is in our control, so our circumstances improve, and we feel more nourished by our life.
To arrange an appointment to help you through this process, please call Newport & Wildman on 1800 650 204.
Stephen Malloch, Senior Clinician
