How to Prevent End-of-week Crash & Burnout as a Working Woman

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It’s past 5.30pm but you are on fire🔥 today. You are running late (again) to meet your friends if you don’t wrap up now. But you REALLY want to finish ONE more piece of work. You didn’t stop right when you feel “I’m good for the day” and you decided to push through. Right after that one final task, you feel absolutely FRIED. Sounds familiar?

The reason behind our end-of-week crash is the piling of this small overdraft in our energy that eventually accumulates to mini burnout.

Let’s be honest, my fellow Superwomen (or shall we call ourselves workaholics?), we are all guilty of that. My case is admittedly worst, I have mini burnouts on both Wednesday and Fridays as I try to finish as much as possible on Mondays and Tuesdays. Secretly we all know what’s our maximum quota, but we always want to push it a little further. It is when all these little moments of overexertion accumulate like compound interest from Monday to Thursday until our energy eventually completely depleted.

And the solution is simple:
Go slightly below your limit. Plan less and do less each day to be precise.

Overcome the urge to finish one extra thing in order to feel extra productive that day. This feeling of being extra productive is an illusion. Constant limit-pushing will lead to lack of dreadfulness to work, anxiety, chronic stress, burnout, suppression of immune and other health issues, so we are in fact prioritising short term productivity over long-term productivity. Did you know that the Harvard Business Review estimated that annual healthcare caused by workplace burnout cost between a striking $125 billion to $190 per year?

A word of advice from a former workaholic and burnout queen herself, save the overtime quota unless you absolutely HAVE to.

Why you should work less to win the day

Do you know what causes athletes to fall out of love with their sport? The Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology said it’s overtraining, perfectionism and being overly critical to their mistakes. In sports, “Overtraining Syndrome” caused athletes to have worse performance. Shockingly, the 2008 Olympian gold medalist rower Wetzel shared that in preparation for the Olympics, he consistently trained below his maximum effort (except for one day of the week where he pushes to the his limit, so he know where his limit is).

When we constantly push ourselves past our limit, we will:

• Stop feeling joy from things that were once enjoyable
• Run out of space for creativity
• Cannot experience happiness or job satisfaction
• Stanford study shows that productivity per hour decline sharply when a person works more than 50 hours a week

I encourage you to set clear boundaries about your work hours. Here are some benefits I experienced when I cut work sharply at 6pm:

• Find ways to work smarter, not longer hours
• Better concentration power
• I discovered a lot unnecessary tasks and have them eliminated
• I come in work earlier and dare not be late
• I have more time to reflect for a better approach next week
• I solve problem much quicker as my mind is clearer
• Have time to enjoy life outside of work

Recognise early signs of burnout

Pay attention to your body and how you feel. If you are experience below signs, you might already be experiencing early stages of burnout!
(Disclaimer, I’m not a Mental Health professional, please see professional advice you experiencing difficulty)

• Lack of concentration, energy, and effectiveness
• Mental and physical fatigue at the end of the day
• You dread the next day
• Your head feels tight, you are not creative like you normally do for quite some time (like me🥲!!)
• Physical aches like back, shoulder or neck pain
• Easier frustrated than normal
• Falling behind in work tasks without a cause
• Having problem sleeping

Plan better and find systems to replace your work until eventually you have no accumulative burnout at all. Don’t let your candle burns down so far down the bottom that it leaves scorch marks at the metal base.

Other IMPORTANT tips to

1. Know that doing less perhaps takes even more self-control and discipline (for us workaholics)
2. Always complete the most important and urgent task in the GOLDEN time of the day (i.e. when you are most awake and energetic).
3. ‘Doing your best’ DOES NOT mean ‘working until you physically cannot be done anymore’ or ‘getter there as FAST as possible’. It means doing it consistently, having patience taking the time that it
4. Results and success take time. Sustainability is key.
5. Be aware of the difference between never-quitting and not never-stopping.
   Hard work is still an important factor in success but that doesn’t mean constant overwork and doing everything.
6. Have two hours of wind-down before bed time
7. Stick to your routine for self-care
   Eat at regular hours. Drop work, and go to that exercise class 2 times a week.
8. Be firm about your boundaries
   Say no to extra tasks.
9. Done is better than perfect
   Sometimes spending that extra 2 hours to craft things to perfection will not score us extra points. Focus on the right thing.
10. We might actually get to our goal faster when we slow down

It’s common misconceptions among us ambitious creatures that when we picture ‘grit’ we visualise ourselves as these little soldiers where we grind and grind and don’t stop pushing ourselves until we break. Remember the time when we have our best idea while whistling in the shower? The best results do not only come from grinding in front of your desk.

When was the last time you let yourself truly enjoy a break despite the unfinished to-do list? Stop having your lunch by your work desk again today and take a stroll instead. It’s impossible to perform your best if you’re not well-rested. You might be surprised by how much further you get when you rest more!