For most, summertime means weekend getaways, days at the beach, and time spent with friends and family. However, this uptick in social interaction and outings can bring a major negative with it. When your personal life becomes just as busy as your work life, it can be very easy to become overwhelmed and stressed, leading to summer burnout.
Luckily, the first step in coping with summer burnout, or avoiding it altogether, is recognizing it as a valid issue and employing measures to prevent yourself from becoming overly stressed.
Here are a few ways you can prevent yourself from feeling the heat from summer burnout:
Don’t Overschedule Yourself – Sometimes, we think that overpacking our schedules from Monday through Thursday will give us a head start on our weekend. That may be the case, but overscheduling yourself can allow the stress of the work week to flow over into the weekend – so while you may feel that you are giving yourself an extra day of summer fun, you may find yourself exhausted and rundown instead of energized for the weekend.
Schedule Vacation in Advance – Spontaneity can be fun, but when planning a vacation that will involve taking time away from work, it is important to schedule this time off in advance. This allows you to make sure your team has ample time to prepare to cover for you. It also allows you to finish up projects you may be working on, so that you do not find yourself thinking about loose threads that need to be tied up while you are away from work. This way, you are returning to work with a clean slate and a fresh mindset, rather than picking right back up where you left off, both in terms of project completion and attitude.
Practice Self-Care – It is important to set some time aside for yourself to do things that put you at ease and help you to feel physically, mentally, and emotionally well. This could mean taking a nature walk, journaling, listening to music, or doing your favorite skin routine. Taking care of yourself in this way greatly reduces stress and can help prevent summer burnout.
Employers can also play a huge part in coping with summer burnout by addressing stress in the workplace.
Schedule Check-Ins – Set some one-on-one time with the members of your team to assess how they are feeling. This will make your team feel supported and heard, while also looping you in on potential stressors in their work or personal lives.
Encourage Teamwork – Managers should foster a collaborative work environment for their teams. This way, if one team member begins to show signs of summer fatigue, another team member, or the manager themself, can jump in to assist with the workload.
Create Programs to Reduce Employee Stress – Introducing wellness programs and implementing wellness initiatives in the summer months can be a great way to keep employees engaged and thriving in the workplace.
Summer burnout is a real issue that employers and employees both deal with. Nicer weather creates a busier social life which can negatively affect your productivity. It is more important than ever to stay organized and plan your time accordingly. Following the steps above will help alleviate the feelings of being overwhelmed this summer.
Deirdre Lyons, Director, Operations
