Avoid year-end burnout with these stress less tips

The year-end rush from our busy, always-on work and personal lives can lead to rising stress levels and burnout, leaving us feeling drained and exhausted.

Stress-related burnout is defined as a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion that often occurs due to prolonged exposure to high levels of stress, particularly in a work environment¹.

People affected by burnout often feel physically and emotionally exhausted, often experiencing a lack of energy, feeling overwhelmed and tired, and anxious and depressed. Those suffering from burnout may even develop physical symptoms, like pain and digestive issues².

Burnout mainly affects everyday tasks at work and at home, or when caring for family members. People with burnout are negative about their tasks, find it hard to concentrate, are listless and lack creativity².

READ MORE | Adrenal burnout and the impact of exercise

The dopamine connection

One factor feeding into this lack of energy and the rise in negative feelings and emotions is a condition known as dopamine exhaustion.

While not a formally recognised medical term, the concept has gained traction in discussions surrounding the potential negative effects of our modern lives, particularly the role and influence that digital technology and social media have in our lives.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced in the brain that is associated with pleasure, mood and emotional regulation, as well as motivation, learning, memory, and movement.

This chemical messenger, often called the feel-good hormone, carries signals between nerve cells in the brain and it is released in response to any type of reward³.

Its main role is to modulate behaviour – we get a surge of dopamine when we experience pleasure from new experiences, especially social interactions, when we learn new things, and from achievement.

It feels good when dopamine gets nerves firing in the brain, which reinforces behaviours, encouraging us to take action and keeps us motivated to chase that feeling, which is good, up to a point.

READ MORE | How Feminine Burnout Affects your Health and Relationships

Overstimulation an issue

The issue we face is that we’re all overstimulated. We receive constant email and message notifications and updates on our phones from different workplace productivity and workflow apps, and social media algorithms serve up a steady stream of content on our feeds to keep us scrolling.

It has led to the rise of issues like digital dependency and social media and technology addiction. However, when we spend our lives on devices, the constant overstimulation can result in burnout because we produce too much dopamine and lose sensitivity to this powerful neurotransmitter.

When we become desensitised to dopamine, we may experience symptoms that can include a lack of motivation and interest in activities, diminished feelings of gratification, decreased energy levels, difficulty initiating tasks, changes in mood and emotional, and cognitive difficulties, including difficulty with memory, attention, and problem-solving.

READ MORE | Pass the stress test with these supplements

Build stress resilience

Taking a proactive approach to managing and regaining control of our lives can help us destress and avoid year-end burnout. A useful framework used to identify and neutralise stress triggers is the 5 As approach, which entails:

1. Avoid

Do not create additional stress by staying on top of factors in your control, like scheduling and prioritising year-end tasks and project planning. Take control of your environment to avoid unnecessary stress by eating a wholesome balanced diet, getting sufficient sleep, and limiting time on devices.

2. Alter

Identify things in your life that cause stress and change those you can. For example, back-to-back meetings can cause stress by taking time away from other tasks. Working late can cause relationship stress, so plan accordingly and prioritise your life to find the right balance. Make sure you plan and manage your year-end projects for completion before you leave on holiday so you can rest and recharge.

3. Adapt

Sometimes, we face unexpected sources of stress that are out of our control, like a last-minute work project or a family emergency. Remind yourself that life happens and work to adapt to the stressful conditions as best you can to help you gain control.

4. Accept

Those who expect and prepare to experience stress typically handle and respond better to those who do not accept that stress is part of everyday life. We should not try to avoid or remove all stress from our lives but accept that we will experience it and prepare as best we can.

One approach is known as tragic optimism, which entails acknowledging, accepting, and expecting that life will contain hardship and hurt, and then forging on with a positive attitude.

5. Activity

Physical activity helps to calm the nervous system and releases endorphins, which are neurotransmitters like dopamine that can improve your mood.

Some light exercise, particularly cardiovascular activity, is a great way to manage stress without exacerbating the situation with intense physical exertion. A walk or some yoga are great options.

Exercise also releases tension by distracting you from daily worries while the improvements it makes to your cardiorespiratory system enables your body to cope with daily stress more effectively.

READ MORE | Exercise for your mental health. It’s the easy route to lessen stress

Additional ways to destress

There are numerous other ways to reduce stress and address burnout. For example, according to research, creating headspace and calming the mind are effective ways to deal with and reduce stress.

For instance, participants in one study⁴ effectively reduced stress levels with yoga, mindfulness and a mindfulness app.

Meditation can also help you manage and reduce stress⁵ by making you more mentally resilient. Regular meditators gain better control of their thoughts, emotions and feelings and experience various benefits, including improved stress tolerance, less anxiety and depression, better mental clarity, concentration, focus, calmness, and emotional positivity.

Deep breathing exercises or breathwork (deliberate control of your breathing pattern) can also help calm your nervous system and reduce stress levels⁶.

Maintaining strong social connections is also essential for managing stress⁷. Talking with friends, family, or a therapist can provide a valuable outlet for expressing your feelings and gaining support. Feeling understood and connected can reduce the emotional burden of stress.

Additional recovery guidelines to support destress:

• Eat a nutritious diet and meet your daily hydration targets.
• Get 7-9 hours of restorative sleep a night.
• Move regularly and get active daily.
• Ensure at least 48 hours of rest between intense training sessions.
• Avoid or limit your intake of stimulants, alcohol and nicotine.
• Manage and mitigate all forms of stress in your control.

Manage stress with supplements

Supplements specifically formulated to support our body’s natural stress response can also support your efforts to destress and avoid burnout as the year draws to a close.

Products like Biogen Stress Relief, Biogen Mental Reset, Biogen Mental Lift, Biogen Adrenal Assist and Biogen Ashwagandha Root contain natural botanical and herbal ingredients and vitamins and minerals that support our nervous and hormonal systems or work to reduce tension, irritability, nervousness, restlessness and mild anxiousness.

These ingredients include adaptogens, which are substances that increase the body’s ability to resist and adapt to mental and physical stress.

They are generally made from plant extracts or herbs that help to restore balance in the cardiovascular, immune, nervous and endocrine systems, usually without any physiological disturbance, side effects or toxicity.

It is recommended that you consult a healthcare professional if you experience any of the symptoms outlined in this article.

It is always best to combine any stress support or nootropic supplement with beneficial lifestyle changes including a healthy diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep to improve your overall wellness, boost your performance, and power through to the end of the year!

References:

1. Edú-Valsania S, Laguía A, Moriano JA. Burnout: A Review of Theory and Measurement. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 4;19(3):1780. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031780. PMID: 35162802; PMCID: PMC8834764.
2. InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. Depression: Learn More – What is burnout? [Updated 2024 Apr 15]. Available from:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27928.
3. Juárez Olguín H, Calderón Guzmán D, Hernández García E, Barragán Mejía G. The Role of Dopamine and Its Dysfunction as a Consequence of Oxidative Stress. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2016;2016:9730467. doi: 10.1155/2016/9730467. Epub 2015 Dec 6. PMID: 26770661; PMCID: PMC4684895.
4. Can YS, Iles-Smith H, Chalabianloo N, Ekiz D, Fernández-Álvarez J, Repetto C, Riva G, Ersoy C. How to Relax in Stressful Situations: A Smart Stress Reduction System. Healthcare (Basel). 2020 Apr 16;8(2):100. doi: 10.3390/healthcare8020100. PMID: 32316370; PMCID: PMC7349817.
5. Daniel RV, Sharma G, Chandra S. Effective Stress Management through Meditation: An Electroencephalograph-Based Study. Int J Yoga. 2022 Jan-Apr;15(1):45-51. doi: 10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_171_21. Epub 2022 Mar 21. PMID: 35444365; PMCID: PMC9015081.
6. Fincham, G.W., Strauss, C., Montero-Marin, J. et al. Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials. Sci Rep 13, 432 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27247-y.
7. Ozbay F, Johnson DC, Dimoulas E, Morgan CA, Charney D, Southwick S. Social support and resilience to stress: from neurobiology to clinical practice. Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2007 May;4(5):35-40. PMID: 20806028; PMCID: PMC2921311.

Author: Pedro van Gaalen

When he’s not writing about sport or health and fitness, Pedro is probably out training for his next marathon or ultra-marathon. He’s worked as a fitness professional and as a marketing and comms expert. He now combines his passions in his role as managing editor at Fitness magazine.

Twitter