Nowadays it is very common to hear from people ‘I worked 15 hours straight’, “I worked through the whole weekend”, “I can’t take a vacation, I have deadlines to meet”. People actually say this like a badge of honour, but in reality, it is affecting their life adversely. This habit of continuously pushing yourself every day will lead to burnout. Burnout is the state of exhaustion in every form viz. emotional, physical and mental; which is caused due to immense and continuous exposure to stress. Burnout is the brain’s way of saying it has been overtaxed and needs time to rejuvenate. To avoid burnout it is essential to have a work-life balance in your life.

People have started to feel the need of having a work-life balance thus, emphasising a lot on it. They have observed that the productivity of the person is affected due to more/excessive work and less or negligible life balance. It not only affects one professionally but it also affects them personally. People become less committed to things they are doing, their motivation level is at all time lows, their health takes a toll by frequently calling in sick, and they are at their unhealthiest best.

You should fuel your fire and don’t burn out, it simply means that you have to constantly recharge yourself in order to keep up with the energy level and be productive in whatever we do. People resort to various means to renew themselves. Recovery strategies are different for every individual; for some taking a quiet break after completing some important task works or listening to the music, taking a walk, talking to a friend or going out with friends works to give your brain the much needed interim break it requires.

Our parents and experts have been telling us to keep our brain healthy using five energy driversnamely; Move, Eat, Sleep, Relax and Connect. Move means that we have to keep moving our body as good things happen to the brain when we move around. Eat says that use food as a fuel for your brain and the most effective way to deal with stress is to eat a healthy diet. Sleep also promotes the renewal of mind and body; it is proved that showing up to work sleep deprived is like showing up drunk. It is essential to have sufficient sleep which will make you feel calm, rested and will help youfunction at your best. Relaxation is the fourth driver essential for a good work-life balance. Take time off your work in order to rejuvenate yourself, this helps in the recovery of your body not only physically but also mentally. Connecting with people is also important for a healthy balance; fostering mutually nurturing relationships in our lives can help in reducing fear and stress.

When you have attained the balance between your work and life you will observe that this helps keeping us going with our lives, be it professional or personal with a renewed energy and motivation which is sustained for a longer period of time.