…A client occasionally asks me. And by “the edge,” they mean the edge of burnout or overstrain.
They come to me with a different coach question but have been experiencing certain ‘symptoms’ for a while. Symptoms such as:
- Poor sleep
- Excessive worrying
- Bad temper
- Crying for no reason
- Neck pain
- Frequent headaches
- Poor concentration
- Inner restlessness
- A feeling of being rushed
Then, for example, the third session takes a different turn with the question, “Am I on the edge?”
In the last two years, this has happened more often, so I decided to delve into it. I wanted to recognize a (possible) burnout earlier with a client so that I could provide tools to prevent a burnout or guide them to a doctor on time. Through a good book, ‘Gek op stress maar niet altijd’ (Translated as “I love stress but not always’ By Suzan Kuijsten & Carolien Hamming), I came across the CSR Center. Their approach to stress prevention and intervention appealed to me: Recovery from burnout, first physically, then mentally. I have now successfully completed their 4-day course.
Do you recognize ‘the symptoms’? Or do you know someone who has them? Do not hesitate and do something about it. Do not wait til you’re on the edge. Because who doesn’t know this: we often continue anyway. Just a bit more… because it’s almost vacation, the project is almost finished, or it will be calmer later. But that often doesn’t happen. Because after that project, there is another one, your colleague gets sick, and you have to take over his tasks, or there is always something else that keeps us running.
Working under high pressure is fine for a while. Our bodies are fantastic and support us in this. The body produces extra cortisol and adrenaline to enable us to cope with all the hustle and bustle and to make that extra effort. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you take a break after the big job, the stress day, or the above-average performance. Because when you take a break, your body recharges, produces other hormones like the feel-good hormone endorphin, so that your body comes back into balance. Do you want to know more about this? Take a look at the following video from the CSR Center on YouTube: https://youtu.be/neD7DevsMnM
Do you want to know if you’re ‘on the so-called edge’? Then contact me. Through the CSR Center, I have access to a reliable questionnaire that measures whether and to what extent there are stress-related issues. After all, it might be a cliché, but prevention is better than cure…
For now, I invite you to ‘relax’ more often. In other words, after, for example, 2 hours of hard and concentrated work, stretch your legs, or after a stressful conversation, take some downtime. This literally recharges the battery.
