66% of Parents Are Burnt Out: Actionable Ways to Avoid Burnout and Stay Fresh in Your Career and At Home
Having a full-time job can be exhausting. Being a parent can be exhausting. Being a working parent can make you more tired than you ever thought you could be. (Even more tired than you felt in History class trying to keep your eyes open during a movie on the French and Indian War). It’s no surprise that in 2020, according to multiple sources, roughly 66% of working parents felt burnout.
Now, I can’t remember exactly what happened in 2020 to bring burnout in parents to the forefront…Oh yeah maybe the Coronavirus Pandemic, that’s right. Parents had to learn how to work from home and juggle childcare, virtual learning and entertaining children of various ages for months. It wasn’t the first time in history that working parents had to do these things, but it certainly shined a spotlight on it.
Let me be clear, just because you and your spouse decide to have a child and become parents doesn’t mean you should get an award and permanent immunity from doing anything difficult. As a parent myself it pains me to say that because I like awards and would also like permanent immunity from doing anything difficult. But, for parents who make every effort to give 100% of themselves to their children and their career, you may feel pretty worn down by the time you finally go to sleep.
Before I go any further in this post, I should give a warning and a pep talk to those of you who are reading this article and are thinking about having a child as a full-time worker or someone who is a stay at home parent and is thinking about joining the workforce.
1. If you are feeling tired and burnout now, becoming a working parent will not be any easier.
2. Becoming a working parent will force you to try and find purpose in your career since it’s what will take up most of your time when you’re not handling your children.
So there you go, a warning and a pep talk that was meant to both scare and inspire you.
Let’s get back to the working parents though because you’ve come here to try and find out how to feel less burnt out and maybe even have some sort of energy during the day.
At Your Career Strategy we want to help you become a better parent and excel in your career while not feeling run down at the end of each day, just waiting for the weekend to come to decompress…kind of.
So here are some ways you can prevent burnout right now.
1. Have a Great Diet
There’s a lot to unpack with this first strategy. There are hundreds of thousands of Career Services websites and millions of Parenting websites, and there are very few, if any, that will have the above as a strategy for avoiding burnout at work or parenting. Why is it the thing we put first on our list you ask?
Well first it’s important to explain that the word diet doesn’t mean the trendy thing you’re doing for the week or month to try and lose weight. The word diet is referring to what you’re eating on a daily basis. Don’t worry this isn’t going to veer too far off the tracks and turn into a health article, but what you eat every day is extremely important to your physical and mental health, which in turn can have an effect on, you guessed it, burnout.
Think back to the last time you had a really big meal. Maybe you ate eight slices of pizza when you only meant to have two. (I’ve definitely never done that…ever.). Or maybe you ate so much at the buffet that the restaurant took all the plates away so you would stop eating. Now try and remember how much fun it was taking care of your child the rest of the night, or the next morning for that matter. It probably wasn’t a fun experience. Chasing after a child after eating a big meal is probably the last thing your body wants to do.
I bring this up to illustrate that what you put into your body has a direct effect on how you function. This isn’t to say you need to eat like an Olympic athlete or Tom Brady every day. The point is, when you feel tired or burnt out, one of the first things you can look at is your energy source, aka food. Reflecting on what meals you eat might help you to realize that a twinkie, bag of chips and soda is not exactly a lunch that’s going to fuel you for the rest of the day.
Adjusting your diet to make sure your body is getting the proper fuel on a daily basis is essential to being productive at work and as a parent.
2. Have Some Sort of An Exercise Routine
I promise this blog post hasn’t gone into a Health and Fitness article so don’t worry. Once you’ve started eating right, the next best way to battle burnout is to get on an exercise schedule. Please don’t panic. I’m not telling you to join a gym, buy expensive weights or sign up for at home work out classes. Exercising isn’t just the idea of becoming the next Arnold or Brock Lesnar.
Anyone and everyone should be spending some time during the day doing a little bit of physical activity. Again, I’ll give the disclaimer that I’m not a doctor or certified fitness trainer so don’t go trying to run 20 miles if you have a heart condition. Consult your doctor before you try anything crazy. With that being said though, taking 20 to 30 minutes a day to walk around your neighborhood can do wonders for your mental and physical health. Don’t expect to lose 100 pounds and be ripped, but you can expect many positive results.
If you’re someone who’s more physically fit, a workout routine is a great way to not only stay in shape, but it can also help clear your mind. Why is this important when it comes to burnout? Because someone who is physically active every day has a better chance of having the right frame of mind to deal with difficult days at work or at home.
If the sound of doing some sort of exercise sounds intimidating, take one step at a time…literally. Try for ten pushups a day to start, or walk to the end of your street. A little bit each day can get the ball rolling and before you know it, you’ll be lifting more weight than you thought was possible.
3. Take All of Your Days Off
This may sound obvious, but people need to be reminded of this tip. If your company gives you 20 days of vacation time, you are not going to win any awards for only taking ten days off for the year. Plan out your vacation time wisely. If you have really young children, you might want to have time saved for sick days (trust me you’ll need them).
Even more important than using all of your days, actually take off when you’re taking off. This may sound like a sentence that doesn’t make sense, but you know exactly what I’m talking about. Unless you are the President of the United States of America or an extremely important public person, the world isn’t going to come to an end if you take a trip to Fiji for a week with your family. I have news for you; your work will be in the exact same spot you left it when you get back. Most likely there will be more of it piled up, but the world will be spinning just fine while you’re out.
If you’re someone who owns your own business, I will say it can be a little more difficult to take time off. Having a trusted person at your company that you can rely on while your out is extremely important and should be considered well before you go on any vacation. In other words, if you own an ice cream shop, don’t take a month off and leave a 14 year old in charge of the store. (Not to call out 14 year olds because I’m sure there are some that are responsible, but most probably can’t handle running a business by themselves). Plan, plan, plan.
An important tip within this tip, take a few days off while your kids are in school, so you have a day or a few hours to yourself. This may sound selfish, but as a parent, having me time is extremely important.
4. Have Boundaries
We all understand that the 9 to 5 traditional work day has pretty much gone out the window. That does not mean that the work day has become 24/7 though. If you’re someone who goes into an office or place of work every day, this should hopefully be a little easier of a tip for you. Leave your work at work. If it means you have to stay an extra half hour or get in a little earlier to knock out that big project then fine, but you shouldn’t be coming home and trying to answer emails while helping your child with their homework.
Now for you parents who are working remotely most of the time, having boundaries can definitely be a little more difficult. One of the best things you can do to have boundaries is CLOSE YOUR F#$#@%#@KING LAPTOP!!!!! Sorry if that was a little forceful but it’s true. If you have your computer that has your work on it open all the time, then guess what, you’ll be tempted to work all the time. Give it a break. Please. You know what’s harder than keeping up with a couple of elementary school aged children? Keeping up with them while trying to format an excel document on your phone.
Set a time for yourself each day that you are going to be done working and stick to it. Unless the CEO of your company rings the doorbell to ask you for a project, make sure you are separating your time as an employee and a parent.
Final Thoughts
While you can find a number of other ways to avoid burnout, such as seeking therapy, meditating, getting more sleep, etc., the four tips above are things that are completely in your control that you can start today if you’re reading this in the morning.
Of course getting more sleep will help with burnout, and I for one could probably sleep a full 24 hours if I was challenged to, but sleep and parenting aren’t two words that go together too well. So as long as you are getting the minimum sleep your body needs to function, you’re doing okay. Of course if you can get more go for it. Take a nap on your commute to work….as long as your taking mass transit… rather than answering emails or having meetings.
Ultimately, avoiding burnout comes down to decisions you make. All working parents are stressed and busy to various degrees, but not all are burnt out. It’s your responsibility to yourself and your family to be in the minority on this epidemic.