What is Burnout?
Burnout is a psychological term that is used to describe the experience of diminished interest and long term exhaustion that can be experienced by anyone, but particularly those who are in stressful professions. It is almost considered an emotional exhaustion and reduced sense of personal accomplishment. This may include feelings of exhaustion, inefficacy and cynicism, and a lack of energy.  It is important to recognise burnout in clients, but also for the life coach to recognise burnout in themselves.

In life coaching, this is obviously not something that would be helpful to the coach or the client, but will hinder, and ultimately destroy the coaching process if left unchecked. A life coach needs to be able to help the client to change, by being positive and offering encouragement.  If they are not able to do this because they are burned out from helping others, then they will not really be supportive to their clients.  

Most life coaches really enjoy life coaching, but it can also be stressful. This constant stress without relief can leave a life coach feeling helpless and worn out.  When a person is burnt out, they may find their problems seem insurmountable.  This can threaten their life coaching practice, their relationships and their own health.  It is important to deal with burnout as soon as a coach recognises that they have it. The longer burnout is allowed to carry on, the harder it is to break away from the feelings of burnout.  

Besides affecting your life coaching practice, burnout can start to affect your own personal and social life.  It can make a coach vulnerable to illnesses such as colds, flu, and so on.  

Burnout can be due to stress, but it is not the same as feeling stressed. When we feel stressed, it is because we have too much to deal with.  People who are stressed often feel that if they get everything under control that they will feel better. Burnout is about not enough. The person may feel empty, lacking in motivation and beyond caring. They do not see any hope of positive change in their life. So they disengage from their situation and begin to feel detached and worthless.

If a coach recognises that they have burnout, or a client is burnt out, they may follow strategies such as:

• Starting each day with relaxing rituals - rather than jumping out of bed straight into the day, they can try writing in a journal, doing gentle stretching exercises, reading a few pages of a book.
• Try to eat healthily - certain foods and additives or preservatives can build up     toxins in our bodies which may affect our daily performances and behaviours. Other substances such as caffeine have addictive properties which can cause psychological disturbances such as mood swings, as well as feelings of discomfort when levels are low in our bodies. Other foods obviously increase risks of diseases such as heart disease, ulcers, and diabetes.
• Exercise regularly - exercise not only stimulates our muscles and bodily systems, but it also encourages the brain to release endorphins which make us feel good.  A healthy body promotes a healthy mind. Make time to engage in a sporting activity - this gives you the opportunity to exercise and socialise at the same time.  
• Sleep well - between seven and eight hours sleep per day is regarded by health professionals to be paramount to optimal health.
• Set boundaries – a coach needs to be able to say “no” to requests on their time. As before, they need to set boundaries of when they are available to clients and also within their personal life. Take regular breaks in your daily work, take at least one day off per week, and take the occasional holiday.
• Take breaks from technology - you should set times when they completely disconnect from technology. This means no laptop, tablet, texting, mobile phone, phone calls, and emails.  Moving away from technology for brief periods can lead to more business, for instance you might think about a new service you wish to offer, or you might use the time to plan where you would like to go on holiday.
• Nourish your creative side – as well as allowing time for creativity, a way to avoid burnout is also to try something new, a fun project, a new hobby, things that have nothing to do with work.
• Learn how to manage stress – employ stress management techniques to reduce feelings of stress.

Understand more about stress with our courses and eBooks. Click on the links below for more information -

Counselling Practice Short Course

Managing Stress Short Course

Negative Emotions eBook