Domain One

One way to improve our overall health is by engaging in regular physical activity. Short-term and long-term benefits have been documented. Short-term benefits include improved sleep, decreased anxiety, and decreased blood pressure. Long-term benefits include, but are not limited to, cognitive health, lowered risk of heart disease, cancer prevention, and maintaining a healthy weight. One study found that physical activity can potentially reduce symptoms associated with burnout. Therefore, incorporating physical activity, and more importantly meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines, can help improve personal and professional wellness.  

While the amount of recommended sleep changes throughout an individual's lifespan, adults should be getting 7 or more hours of sleep each night. Sleep is important to many areas of health and wellness to include physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning. Unsurprisingly, sleep is important to consider when working to improve personal and professional wellness. The relationship between burnout and sleep is bidirectional, meaning poor sleep can contribute to burnout and burnout can contribute to poor sleep. Therefore, learning strategies to improve the number of hours slept, sleep hygiene, and sleep quality can help prevent burnout and/or reduce the symptoms of burnout while increasing overall health and wellness.  

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” The benefits mindfulness has on an individual's health and wellness has been heavily documented in the research. One study concluded that mindfulness can improve subjective well-being, decrease psychological distress, decrease emotional reactivity, and improve the regulation of behavior. A review of eight studies found evidence that mindfulness practice could reduce job burnout amongst healthcare professionals. Similarly, self-compassion, or the process of directing compassion inward, has been shown to be a powerful source of coping and resilience. A systematic review of existing literature found that self-compassion can prevent occupational stress and burnout while possibly improving professional efficacy. Therefore, learning skills associated with mindfulness and self-compassion can improve personal and professional wellness.  

Evidence suggests personal and professional values play a significant role in preventing burnout. When personal values align with your work, and you feel a sense of purpose, it can provide motivation and resilience against burnout. Similarly, if your workplace promotes values like work-life balance, employee wellbeing, and ethical conduct, it can mitigate the risk of burnout by fostering a supportive environment. Thankfully, there are many values driven exercises and activities that can help you identify your personal and professional values and help you determine a path towards values driven behavior. These strategies can assist in the prevention and reduction of burnout symptoms.  

Effective stress management skills significantly contribute to the maintenance of physical and mental health. Chronic stress can lead to a wide range of health-related concerns, as it affects all systems of the body (e.g. musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, nervous, and reproductive systems). Similarly, cognitive difficulties (e.g. reduced concentration, constant worry, etc.) and emotional symptoms (e.g. irritability, low morale, feeling depressed, feeling anxious, etc.) can become more prevalent. Unsurprisingly, stress and burnout are closely linked. Common symptoms of burnout such as fatigue and cynicism can lead to a sense of reduced personal efficacy and a detachment from work. Therefore, increasing one's positive coping strategies to combat stress can improve overall well-being and enhance quality of life. This increase in positive coping strategies is crucial to preventing and managing burnout symptoms and maintaining professional productivity.  

Creating and maintaining personal and professional boundaries is essential for self-care and for preventing the development of burnout. While many individuals, especially those working in the health care system, find themselves fighting against systemic issues, there are several strategies that can be implemented that help maintain a sense of well-being. While for many it can feel overwhelming to change our relationship with work, small, sustainable changes can lead to improved quality of life while simultaneously decreasing stress, resentment and self-doubt.