Recognizing burnout and overwhelm

The speaker discusses recognizing and overcoming burnout, specifically in the hair industry. Burnout is caused by prolonged stress and can result in physical and emotional exhaustion. Signs of burnout include irritability, loss of passion, decreased productivity, and physical symptoms. To prevent burnout, it is important to set boundaries, establish realistic working hours, and prioritize self-care. Seeking support from others in the industry is also helpful. Self-care is not selfish and is necessary for overall well-being. It is important to prioritize one's needs and seek support when needed. Hello, and welcome to today's episode. So today I really want to talk about recognizing and overcoming burnout, and especially in the hair industry. And I know I have a lot of beauty entrepreneurs, creative entrepreneurs in my audience, and so I really just wanted to share this. But really this can apply to any area, so let's dive in. Okay, so today I want to talk about burnout and actually how it manifests in our lives and in our industry. And so one of the things that I found is that burnout is a state of chronic and physical emotional exhaustion, and it really results from prolonged stress and really, I think in the hair industry, burnout is quite common due to the fast-paced nature of the job, the long hours and dealing with different clients and different energy. And I really find that any area in your life where you're starting to feel burnt out, it really is looking to where has it been super fast-paced for you, where have you been putting in really long hours, and where have you maybe been dealing with demanding clients or energy, or where do you not have boundaries? So many hairstylists may experience a range of signs and symptoms indicating that there's burnout, and this really can include irritability, loss of passion, motivation, decreased productivity, fatigue, anxiety, and also physical symptoms like muscle tension and headaches. And those are pretty significant indicators that you might be experiencing burnout. And it's essential for us to recognize these signs early on to prevent the burnout from actually escalating. And sometimes we get to this point where we think that we need to change careers or we just come to our wits' end, we don't know really what to do. And really just seeing that you can implement certain things to prevent the burnout, and there's different ways to do that. For me personally, it's really been about coming back to myself, finding and really setting really strong boundaries for myself and for my clients. It's super crucial to establish those boundaries and to set realistic working hours and to actually stick to them. Sometimes we think that we should overbook or we should constantly say yes to every little opportunity. And maybe that looks like overbooking, maybe that looks like double booking, maybe that looks like coming in on your day off, maybe that looks like coming in early or staying late, maybe that looks like taking too many clients in a single day. It's really about coming back and seeing like what do you have energetically to actually do every single day so that it doesn't compound into this place of you feeling completely burnt out and resentful. And then it starts to show sometimes physically, mentally, and in different areas. It can start to kind of almost bleed out into other areas of your life, if you will. And so really it's one of the things is just creating a schedule, creating that time in your day for breaks and really having some self-care and really developing strong communication skills so that you can communicate what it is that you want, so that you can communicate your boundaries, so that you can be super clear about what it is that you are expecting and what others can expect of you, right? And so it's okay to say no when you're feeling overwhelmed and you need to take a break or you've decided that you only want to work so many days. It's okay to set a certain schedule and boundaries around that and not feel guilty about it. I also find that it's super important to have a support system within your industry, somebody that understands where you're coming from, somebody that you can connect with, whether that be a mentor or a coach or other hairstylists that understand. Not ones that are doing the same exact thing that you're doing because otherwise it'll just be a bitch fest or like a complaining fest there. It's really about seeking support and knowing that there's somebody that could support you in what it is that you're doing and then implementing it and implementing that self-care, understanding that it's not selfish to take the time out for yourself, understand that it's not selfish to set boundaries and to set your business and tailor your business to look like how you want it to look and that you get to work from a place of serving from overflow, not reserve. And so when we are constantly saying yes to every single opportunity, we are not serving from overflow. We are serving from reserve. And honestly, that's not fair to anybody because you're not even being your best self. You're not even doing your best work. And then that can spiral into a whole other situation, right, where you are second-guessing yourself or you feel really down about the work that you did or maybe somebody's not happy with what it is that you did. And so it just can spiral into other areas and just create even more chaos, right? So setting self-care practices, prioritizing your physical, mental, spiritual health, regularly exercising, moving your body, getting enough sleep, taking breaks throughout the day, stretching, relaxing, it really helps physically and mentally to be able to do these and to really find like different activities outside of work that bring you joy, different activities outside of work that bring you relaxation. It's finding different hobbies, finding different things that you really love, finding things that really spark your creativity, finding things that really fill your cup and taking the time for yourself unapologetically, okay? So often we can have so much guilt around taking the time out for ourself. We can have so much guilt on setting boundaries and doing what it is that we want in our business and only doing what it is that lights us up and also just disconnecting from work-related matters, like during off hours, especially with your phones and emails and notifications and all of that. So it's like really try to disconnect from that and save the space for your mental and emotional rejuvenation, allowing that space. So also, like I said before, seeking that support when it's needed so that you don't continue to feel overwhelmed or you don't experience the burnout symptoms, reaching out to different people that can help support you, that can guide you, and just really allowing yourself that support and that guidance. So to all of my hairstylists out there and all of my creative entrepreneurs, really anybody that suffers with burnout and overwhelm, it is to remember that self-care is not selfish. It's so essential and it's such an amazing investment in your overall well-being and longevity in this industry, and it is necessary. So prioritize your own needs, set boundaries, and don't hesitate to seek support when it's needed. And just remember that you are not alone. There are so many other artists and creatives and just people in general that can feel this way, and there's also people that can really help you navigate through this successfully. So I hope that helped. Let me know if you resonate with any of this. Share it with anybody that you know. One of my asks is that you just like, share, review this podcast, and just share it with people that you know that can benefit from this or somebody that you know might be struggling with burnout or overwhelm. And also remember that I am here to support you in any way that I can. So that is it for today. I hope you have an amazing rest of your day, and I will see you on the next episode.