WHEN days seem longer and the distance between your bedroom and your bed seems a lot greater, then most likely you're heading for a burnout. Uh-oh. I think I am and that is bad.
Job burnout is bad for people who want to do a lot of things outside their regular job because most likely they'd end up doing nothing and for someone who wants to do a lot of things outside one's regular job, doing nothing is hell.
But then if you are raring to do a lot of things, then that shouldn't be a burnout, or is it? It could be, if it's only your job that you'd love to get out of your face. Bad.
And so there I was the past days, staring at the bedroom door, willing it to open by itself and carrying me away to the life that I have closed it on. But where and which?
Just thinking of options has given me a headache and so I have opted to stay in bed until the very last possible time that I could stretch time. Good thing there are 3G phones now, we can log on to Facebook without leaving our bed or having to endure a heated laptop on our tummies.
But such convenience is even more evil for someone heading for a burnout. Even if you're not on the verge, you'll spend hours and hours, just on Facebook. It becomes worse when there's not much enthusiasm left to face the day. I lie on, clicking, clicking, answering notifications and looking at updates. Hours spent, hours lost, hours wasted. Another headache.
Maybe I just need to do something that will breathe down my neck and soon.
That is reflecting on a thread with my coffee-pushing Facebook buddy who was wondering why is it that when he is beating a deadline he finds time to do things he wouldn't normally do (and these are things that doesn't have to do with the looming deadline).
I replied, it's a form of defiance, the last hurrah before surrendering to the inevitable; while another friend of this coffee-pushing buddy said that's why it's been said that the busiest people have the time for everything.
One more friend wrote, "nakadumdum ko ani ganina samtang ginaayo nako ang tubo sa ako lababo (I remembered this thread while I was fixing the pipe in our sink)." I guess this guy shouldn't be fixing pipes at that time.
Still the bedroom door looms so far away, taunting, leering, as if reminding me that there is one big world out there that I have just shut out.
In one of those millions of career advice articles that litter the Net, Kare Lorenz of CareerBuildier.com lists symptoms of a burnout:
1. Bring cranky and irritable. I've always been cranky and irritable and it doesn't have to do with a burnout.
2. Coming in late and wanting to leave early. Oh dear, all I wanna do is sleep, and I have to leave early to do that.
3. Apathy has replaced enthusiasm. Check.
4. You've lost camaraderie with co-workers. My drink buddies lost the interest before I did.
5. You're feeling physically sick. Uh, yes, the headache.
"You always feel exhausted, have headaches, feel tension in all of your muscles and are having trouble sleeping. These physical signs are common indicators of job stress, and demonstrate that this can turn into a physical problem," she wrote as I scream, Eeeeek!
Lorenz then quotes Carol A. Turkington in her book "Stress Management for Busy People" as the latter recommended steps to take.
1. Learn to say no. Oh, I've been saying no a lot.
2. Reevaluate your goals. What goals? Oh, goals. Believe it or not... I never had anything of my own except, go forth and have fun. Bad.
3. Reduce your commitments at work and at home. What work? What home?
4. Learn stress management skills. Hmmmm... I have so many skills such that I am now stressed out.
5. Get plenty of rest and eat a healthy diet. Oh yes, the sleep, and a healthy diet has never been a problem.
6. Finally, give yourself a break. I've just been on one and I'm jumping on another. How many breaks do I have to take?
What to do? What to do?
Desperate now since suffering from headache the past days, I have resolved: I'm gonna take my coffee-pushing buddy's tack, take on a very impossible deadline outside work and rush on past the bedroom door, which I have locked this Friday morning, snickering because I intend to let it remain locked till today. Vengeance is indeed sweet and this is only the beginning. Woe to those who get hit along the way... saestremera@yahoo.com