Global Wellness: Burnout Prevention and Buffer Overflow

This article explores the vital role wellness and well-being plays in all of our lives, provides insight into the warning signs of exhaustion and suggests small changes you can make to improve one’s wellness.

Wellness and well-being have different meanings, importance and scope to each of us and for good reason, it is a complex topic with various layers and dimensions, and it is completely unique to everyone.

The oxford dictionary defines “Well-being” as “The state of being or doing well in life; happy, healthy, or prosperous condition; moral or physical welfare (of a person or community).” And the Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.

One’s wellness and well-being has been imperative since the beginning of time, however, they have only become a major topic of conversation in the last decade and what previously was an unsolicited subject is now one which individuals are prioritising and valuing. This is likely due to the changes in working environments, and in the working world and the toll or effects this has on individuals. Then again the modern world is evolving and the topics of conversations being discussed are becoming more unsolidified and cohesive, making the environment more welcoming to these ideas and conversations.

As human beings in our current modern world, we are permanently surrounded by information, selective or non-selective, and information is inescapable. Information is a key tool, however, too much information, in whatever capacity that may be, can be harmful and it is important to be mindful when absorbing and accessing all types of data. Information is available to all, and is at its most accessible, at one’s fingertips, from scrolling, laptops, tv, radio and adverts – everywhere. If you are an individual with little or no influential social ‘boundaries’ one can easily quite literally lose oneself!

Becoming overwhelmed is easy; this can start off with small habits such as having no clear cut-off point from one’s job, always checking emails, making those few extra calls, always checking social media, responding to messages and the list goes on. Eventually, these things become consuming, and individuals may become so overwhelmed they can reach a point of burnout.

The first step in taking good care of yourself is to develop self-awareness and listen to your body. There are various signs and again each will be unique to individuals. The BMA states that signs can be physical, emotional and behavioural, and could include but are not limited to:

By having and increasing one’s self-awareness you will be able to be more in tune with your mind and body, and if you are just not feeling yourself, it is important to acknowledge this. Sudden changes in personal characteristics or habits that seemed unchangeable or uninfluenceable before, could be a strong indication of imbalance for example.

As human beings we still use terms and imagery from almost everything around us; our devices, everyday tools and gadgets also face similar experiences to burnout when the fuel tank is empty, the lights have all gone out, and the battery is flat. For all the tech people the equivalent is maybe buffer overflow.

Burnout is explained as the feeling and state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. Being overwhelmed, drained, and unable to meet constant demands are all caused ultimately by stress. It would seem that burning out has become an inevitable part of human existence; While it allegedly only affects a certain character type or as a result of the individual’s consequence of encountering certain environments or circumstances.

Individuals of all ages across all sectors and industries are experiencing the impact of increased stress, fatigue and mental health challenges resulting in burnout. In 2021 Indeed carried out a study which found that more than 52% of the participants had reached or felt burned out, this had also increased by 9% from their previous study in 2020.

The human mind and body are incredible, but like all things they need to be looked after, maintained, fueled and rested; In order for a plant to grow it requires sunlight, water, food and time.

Unsurprisingly, if we try to work to maximum capacity with minimum input for an extended period of time, something has to give. Many things in life today come with a price tag, however, when it comes to our health and well-being, everything here is simply priceless.