Is Your Business Brain Headed for Burnout?

burnout

You might think that one of the advantages of having an online business is the escape from career burnout. You finally have control over your life to set your own schedule, make decisions, and follow your passion. Do you really? Or, are you trading one form of burnout for another?

What It Means to Burnout

According to clinical psychologist, Dr. Sara Denning, “Burnout happens when you’ve been experiencing chronic stress for so long that your body and your emotional system have begun to shut down and are operating in survival mode,”

Traditionally, it occurs in demanding professions, among high achievers or part of working conditions with long hours and time-sensitive deadlines. While neither men or women are immune, women are more likely to burnout than men.

In addition, the economy has shifted. It’s now suggested “… 64 percent of [North American] employees report high levels of stress, extreme fatigue, and feeling out of control. Even college students report burnout while still in school.

Three Signs of Burnout

You qualify if you are experiencing these three characteristics.

Extreme mental and physical exhaustion
Cynicism and detachment
Feeling ineffective and lack of accomplishment

You’ll find a more detailed breakdown in Sherrie Bourg Carter’s book High Octane Women: How Superachievers Can Avoid Burnout . Or, get a quick summary in her article The Tell-Tale Signs of Burnout … Do You Have Them?

What Burnout Does To Your Brain

There’s no question that chronic stress leads to burnout which “… is not just a state of mind, but a condition that leaves its mark on the brain as well as the body.”

Burnout leaves its mark on the brain as well as the body. Click To Tweet

Most noticeably is a significant loss in the brain’s ability to

Concentrate and focus
Retrieve memory
Solve problems
Make decisions
Create or innovate

Less noticeable but far more dangerous is —

Pre-aging thinning in the medial prefrontal cortex which affects the areas of memory and decision
Damage to neuronal circuits due to chronic fight/flight responses
Elevated and chronic cortisol release affecting immunity function and the onset of coronary heart disease

Where Does That Leave Your Business Brain?

As an online entrepreneur, you may think you’ve escaped the craziness of the workplace. Actually, your business brain is as likely to be on the burnout path.

It’s time to ask …

How many hours have you spent in front of your computer, when you should have been in bed?

How consumed are you in building your social media followers?

Do you feel the need to blog every day?

Do you respond to every comment posted?

Are you unwilling or unable to delegate and pride yourself on doing it all?

How many online forums or networking groups are you actively engaged in?

Is your day planner the fattest thing in your handbag?

Do you have to write into your schedule fun time and bathroom breaks?

Trying to get to a six-figure income as fast as you can?

Are you gung-ho on doing whatever it takes?

Can’t hit the send key unless it’s perfect?