New year, less pressure: How to avoid burnout in 2023

Preventing burnout in 2023 Naturopathic doctor Ashley Margerson shares the signs we should pay attention to avoid burn out in the New Year.

A new year often comes with new goals, and while committing to resolutions can be beneficial, it’s important to recognize signs of burnout and how it can be prevented.

Ashley Margeson, a naturopathic doctor in the Halifax area, explains the symptoms and stages of burnout can be viewed as a bank account.

In the “savings” stage, she says your mental health and ability to conquer tasks sits at a balanced level.

“You’re able to get through your day, you feel good at the end of the day, you don’t have the Sunday scaries going into work the next day,” said Margeson.

In the “paycheque-to-paycheque” phase, the person has just enough energy to fulfil their needs, but are struggling to make ends meet.

“Like, you’ve just got enough to get through the day, but if one person adds one more thing, we’re a little bit worried,” she said.

Then there’s the “overdraft” stage, where Margeson says people are most likely to experience burnout, comparing it to having a large debt load.

“That’s when we really start to get concerned from a medical sense and then we’ve got our, ‘OK, you’re in thousands of dollars of debt right now and it’s probably not for a good reason,’” she says.

SETTING GOALS

Concerning the annual ‘New Year, New Me’ mantra, Margeson says setting high expectations for yourself can sometimes lead to mental health struggles.

Rather than setting lofty goals, she recommends establishing resolutions that would fall into the categories of simplicity and sustainability.

“We come in and we’re like, ‘I want to do all of these things, I’m going to change my life.’ It’s too big. What we want is sustainability and small things,” she says.

FOUR CORNERSTONES

In order to successfully tackle your goals while avoiding burnout, Margeson explains the importance of managing what she calls “four cornerstones.”

Her four cornerstones are:

“The fueling your body and the sleep are the two critical points that I get every single one of my patients to start with first, because if you don’t have enough coming in, you’re just going to go further and further into overdraft,” she says.

When it comes to fuelling your body, data shows a person should consume about 1.1 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

“Our protein is the thing we actually need to build us up,” she says.

As for sleep, Margeson says the time you hit the pillow doesn’t necessarily matter -- it’s what allows you to get the best quality of rest possible.

“It doesn’t matter if you go to bed at 7 o’clock, it doesn’t matter if you go to bed at 3 a.m., it matters that you wake up rested and it matters that you get enough protein throughout the day,” she says.

“If it doesn’t feel like you’re doing enough, you’re probably actually doing it correctly.”