{"id":550,"date":"2017-07-28T08:58:25","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T08:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/hwbstaffnews\/?p=550"},"modified":"2017-07-28T13:11:27","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T13:11:27","slug":"five-ways-to-deal-with-burnout-using-lessons-from-elite-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/hwbstaffnews\/2017\/07\/28\/five-ways-to-deal-with-burnout-using-lessons-from-elite-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"Five ways to deal with burnout using lessons from elite sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter Olusoga, Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University<\/p>\n

It is estimated that burnout costs the global economy \u00a3255 billion a year<\/a>. Burnout tends to happen as a result of long-term stress in a situation or job that, for whatever reason, you\u2019re highly committed to. So the more you care about your work, the more likely you are to experience burnout.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Burnout has three major characteristics: emotional and physical exhaustion, a cynical attitude towards people and relationships at work, and a feeling that you are no longer accomplishing anything worthwhile.<\/p>\n

While these feelings might be all too familiar to some readers, there are things you can do to deal more effectively with stress, pressure, and burnout. And in fact, a lot of valuable lessons can be learnt from the world of elite sport \u2013 where athletes are expected to perform to the best of their ability under immense pressure. But it\u2019s not just elite athletes that can teach us a thing or two about how to manage stressful situations.<\/p>\n

Those behind the scenes in the sporting world \u2013 the coaches \u2013 often have to deal with their own stress<\/a>, while managing the pressures facing the athletes they work with. This can make their jobs doubly stressful as they are effectively managing and thinking about two jobs at a time.<\/p>\n

My research<\/a> focuses on the experiences of elite sports coaches who burned out to the point of wanting to quit their jobs. Here\u2019s what I discovered:<\/p>\n

1. Know thyself<\/h2>\n

To stop burnout from happening in the first place, it\u2019s really important to understand how you normally respond to stress. Write down the things that cause negative feelings in your life, along with how you normally react to those things, and what you do to cope. If you start to notice a change in the way you\u2019re reacting to or dealing with stress \u2013 at work or at home \u2013 this might be an early warning sign of burnout.<\/p>\n

The coaches in our study<\/a> explained that it was only after they had burned out completely that they could look back and see that it wasn\u2019t the amount of stress that had changed, it was how they were dealing with it that led to burnout.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t be a hero<\/h2>\n

Our research shows that developing a \u201csuperman complex\u201d \u2013 also known as trying to do it all \u2013 can be a major contributing factor to burnout. This can often see people trying to take on multiple roles, under great pressure, and then not asking for help.<\/p>\n

But our research also revealed that daring to let someone in and talk about how you feel can often be the first step to recovery. Asking for help and showing a little vulnerability can be difficult, but it is actually a sign of immense strength, rather than weakness.<\/p>\n

3. Watch your expectations<\/h2>\n

Think carefully about what you expect from yourself in all areas of your life, and make sure those expectations are realistic. The coaches in our study described having unrealistic expectations of what they should be able to handle \u2013 clearly linked to the need to be superman all the time.<\/p>\n

Previous research also shows that a discrepancy between your \u201cactual self\u201d and your \u201cideal self\u201d can have a negative impact on self-esteem<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Take a little control<\/h2>\n

There are things in life, in work and at home, that we can control. There are also things we can\u2019t control. If you were to write lists for both, I\u2019d bet that most of the stress and worry in your life comes from the list of things you can\u2019t control. So why not take a little of that energy and put it into taking back a little control?<\/p>\n

Pick something small (drink more water, eat more fruit, walk more) and make a concerted effort to take control of that aspect of your life. Even after reaching the point of quitting, our coaches explained that taking a little control over how they left the job was a huge step in their recovery from burnout.<\/p>\n

5. Take breaks and be present<\/h2>\n

Booking a two week holiday in the Bahamas every time we feel stressed would certainly be nice, but it\u2019s not realistic. But we can take \u201cbreaks\u201d simply by taking the decision to be fully immersed in our lives away from work. Admittedly, it\u2019s easier said than done, but take time at home to be fully present.<\/p>\n

Eat dinner with your family and make a conscious decision to be fully engaged in that activity \u2013 even if you have to check your emails afterwards. According to our research, building and maintaining a supportive network, and connecting with family and friends is vital to avoid burnout \u2013 so those small breaks can make a huge difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Olusoga, Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University It is estimated that burnout costs the global economy \u00a3255 billion a year. Burnout tends to happen as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9105,"featured_media":553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,29],"tags":[23,33,31,32],"class_list":["post-550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-opinion","tag-academy-of-sport-and-physical-activity","tag-opinion-piece","tag-sport","tag-the-conversation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/hwbstaffnews\/files\/2017\/07\/sportburnout.jpg?fit=2902%2C2072&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8KEAX-8S","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/hwbstaffnews\/2017\/04\/05\/publications-centre-for-sport-and-exercise-science\/","url_meta":{"origin":550,"position":0},"title":"Publications – Centre for Sport and Exercise Science","author":"Anna Gunn","date":"April 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"BLACK, Jack and FIELDING-LLOYD, Beth (2017). 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