How to Avoid Burnout and Stay on Track with Your Goals

It’s not surprising in this digital era that we find more and more people get burnout so easily.

I feel like there’s a huge need for us to be consistently productive all the time, keep producing our best work, and because of the overload expectations, we tend to feel guilty when we take a break.

As a result, we get burnout and hate whatever we are doing. At least that what happens to me, a lot.

Then what can we do to avoid it happens so often? Here is my take on this:

1. Put No More Than 4 Things in Your To-Do List

Just don’t go crazy about it, adding more in your to-do list doesn’t mean you are being productive and it is definitely not healthy for your mental health in the long run.

Sure, you can cross every single task in your to-do list for a month or two, but after a while your mind gets tired and you ended up getting sick of it and stopped it altogether.

That’s why it’s much better to keep it 4 every day so you won’t be overwhelmed. Another main reason is that by doing this, you can focus on your priorities better.

Also, let’s be honest, when you try to put every task in your to-do list, it’s hard for you to prioritize which ones that’s more important for the day, which ones that will move the needle for you and lastly, you aren’t doing it for the sake of that ‘satisfying feeling’ right after you tick them off.

For so long I’ve done that where I keep my to-do list as long as I could. Yes, I felt like I accomplished something at the end of the day by ticking off mostly 80% of them but in reality, my life wasn’t actually progressing that much because I ended up just doing the ones that are easier and had significant effects toward my overall growth.

Trying to write down no more than 4 a day in my to-do list has helped to regain my focus back and accomplished more that matters to me.

If you struggle to keep yourself productive without getting a burnout so easily, then maybe it’s time to narrow down your tasks.

2. Create Routines That Work For You

This is one of the hardest parts for me because my work is currently in Singapore Timezone while I’m living in Canada so I work at night and finish off early in the morning then go to sleep.

The small routine that I’ve created and strictly follows no matter how chaotic my day is sometimes, is to protect my first 5 hours after I wake up and write as much as I can.

While it’s hard not to check on messages because my friends and family back home usually called me during that time but I rarely reply right away. I learned it’s best to connect with yourself first rather than jumping into the outside world after you wake up.

Your routine doesn’t have to be big ones but finds what works for you. I find it easier to have a routine that related to my current goals.

For example, my goal is to be better at writing so someday I can make a living out of it so I make it as my main priority to write at least one article first thing after I wake up then another one before I go to bed.

It might take quite some time for you to find routines that work for you and I’m telling you that this is okay. You aren’t in a competition with anyone on this.

3. Take a Break & Make Time For Yourself

No seriously, take a break.

Go out somewhere and recharge your energy. Or just simply disconnected from your work and read your favourite fiction books.

When you are feeling tired and losing focus, it doesn’t make sense to keep it going and expect yourself to be productive. Not only you’ll make more mistakes (that you could have avoided if you just take a break), your stress level will increase and before you know it, you’ll get a burnout.

Just some other day I felt like so many happenings and at the same time, I had the urge to keep producing great content while I myself was aware I wasn’t feeling good at all.

I forced myself to go out any way that day to the mall nearby and spoil myself a bit with my favourite stuff. I also let myself sit in a cafe for a while and reconnect with myself.

That’s one of my ways to take a break, you might want to do something else that suits your day better. Whatever it is, it’s necessary to stop and make time for yourself. And no, you don’t have to feel guilty about it.

4. You Don’t Have to Be Productive All The Time

It’s okay to slow down.

While some days we can be super productive, it’s normal to have days where all you wanna do is eating popcorn and watching Titanic. Been there so many times.

Applying the 2 days-rule can be effective in this case. I found this amazing technique from one of Matt D’Avella’s videos which he said it’s okay to stop whatever you are doing and taking a break for 2 days. But after that, you’ll have to come back.

So basically you can’t take more than 2 days because if you do, you’ll most likely lose the momentum.

I admit it’s hard to keep the momentum going, but it’s even harder to gain back that momentum if you take a break for too long. That’s why 2 days would be ideal to make you stay on track.

5. Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself

Sometimes you don’t even realize that you are being so hard on yourself until someone else pointed it out.

Have you ever felt that? This might happen a lot especially for the goal-getter people where they constantly chase one goal after another.

While it’s great to accomplished lots of good things in life, sometimes we have to take a step back and acknowledge how far we’ve been in our journey.

I’ve been there where I feel like I’m not good enough just because I failed at something or I haven’t achieved XYZ. People might have expectations on us but we are the ones who are going through it every single day. We should know that there are tons of things in life that we can’t control and not achieving those things doesn’t mean our life is incomplete.

We can still feel content with who we are and what we have at the moment.

I’m still struggling with this big-time but I’d like to tell myself every day that there’s only so much I can do and I shouldn’t be putting myself in unnecessary pressure.

Those are the things that I highly recommend for you to avoid burnout so easily so you can stay on track with your goals.

I’m aware not all of them might work for you but I’m hoping at least one of them will stick with you and it helps you change your life for the better.

This story has originally appeared on Medium.