Are you suffering from Business Fatigue?
Could you be suffering from business fatigue or burnout?
If you’re not feeling motivated about your business lately, you could be suffering from business fatigue or burnout. Does it feel like getting through your day-to-day routine is like wading through mud to get things done? Keeping up with all the demands you’re juggling can be overwhelming and exhausting.
Business fatigue or “burnout” results from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterised by some, or all, of these attributes:
Exhaustion
A central symptom of burnout. It comprises profound physical, cognitive, and emotional fatigue that undermines your ability to work effectively and feel positive about what you’re doing.
Cynicism
Sometimes referred to as depersonalisation, this represents an erosion of engagement. It is essentially a way of distancing yourself psychologically from your work. So, instead of feeling invested in your business, you feel detached, negative, and even callous.
Inefficacy
Refers to feelings of incompetence and a lack of achievement and productivity, a feeling that your skills are slipping and worry that you won’t be able to succeed in certain situations or accomplish certain tasks.
This type of fatigue isn’t something to be taken lightly, particularly when it lasts for more than a few weeks. Exhausted business owners aren’t offering any benefit to their businesses. Fatigue and tiredness can actually wreak havoc with your decision-making and cognitive skills. It’s bad enough when you’re the only person affected, but if your fatigue is impacting your employees, it can be highly detrimental to your current and future business. Its presence should be taken seriously and addressed promptly.
What happens when a business owner gets tired?
- Irritability
- Impatience
- Lack of focus
- Become disorganised
- Get easily distracted
- Forgetfulness
These attributes can contribute to some of the following negative behaviours:
- Inattentiveness to clients’ needs
- Excessive and avoidable mistakes
- Lashing out and inappropriately directed anger
- Resistance to change
- Impulsiveness
- Inability to prioritise
- Overlooking small and vital details
- Unnecessary expenditure through poor judgement on purchases
- Procrastination or decision dodging
- Doing nothing at all
If you’re feeling any of these attributes or behaviours then it’s time to …
Take being exhausted seriously.
It’s crucial to keep an eye on your energy levels and to address a chronic case of low energy as soon as possible. Fatigue can mean anything from a chronic lack of sleep to a serious health condition, or even lead to a serious health condition.
Consider …
Looking at how many demands are being made of you – are you stretched too thin?
Check your sleeping environment.
Examine your diet, sleep and exercise habits.
Take some time off if you’re feeling exhausted.
Make an appointment with your doctor where they may look at psychological, physical or lifestyle causes
If the reasons above aren’t contributing factors, then you may wish to consider…
Have you fallen out of love with your business?
It might sound obvious but if you’re going to run your own business you really need to love what you do. Of course, everyone falls in and out of love with their job, but when the periods ‘out of love’ are lasting longer each time … it’s time to reflect on how you feel towards your business.
If you’re generally discontent, unhappy or miserable in your business for, let’s say arbitrarily, more than 90 consecutive days, then consider that it’s time to reevaluate. 90-days is three months of being unhappy, that’s a quarter of a year!
Ask yourself …
Why did you start your own business?
What did you want to achieve?
How did you want to achieve it?
Are you achieving it?
Have you planned your Exit from the business?
If the things you’re doing within your business aren’t helping to take you in the direction of your Why you may need to consider re-focussing.
It’s not unusual for a business to slide off track and it’s very easily done, which makes regular reflection and analysis critical to your business’s success and your personal well-being.
It may be that somewhere along the line you’ve drifted away from your Why, have gone too far down the wrong track and now you’re in a rut. Of course, being in a rut, or ‘your groove’ is fine if you’ve found contentment in the daily repetition of your work life. However, if you’re not content in the rut, then it’s time to consider a big change!
It must also be considered that the Exit from your business is just as important as Why you started it. Choosing an exit strategy for your business might not seem like an obvious step, but planning ahead is an important part of building a business.
Here are a few considerations for helping to combat business fatigue.
