Say No To Burnout  
Page Five

4. Schedule your recreation and restoration. To avoid a schedule which looks easy on paper but doesn't work in reality, we need to write recreational and rest requirements into our schedules with as much seriousness as we give to anything else. So be sure to plan your recreation and keep to the plan. Just having Sunday as a day of no work is a good start. On that day make your meal ahead of time or eat out. Leave some unscheduled hours in the afternoon. Plan days off, take time to walk the dog, spend some afternoons with the children, make time to read a book.

Taking an extra day off every month to go to the beach, have lunch with a friend, or work on that long-neglected scrapbook (men scrapbook too!) can also help with restoration. An occasional weekend away and a yearly vacation are great antidotes for preventing burnout. The great preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said that taking a vacation was an obligation from God. He knew only too well how fatigue and overwork could destroy a person's usefulness for God.

5. Schedule time for the unexpected. Everything from death, earthquakes, floods and illness to traffic jams, clogged-up plumbing and lost dogs take away from the perfect schedule. If there is no "free space," such events will turn a neatly planned life into chaos.

6. Allow time for recovery. Not long ago someone returning from the funeral of a relative said of his surviving spouse: "She'll just have to go on now. It's over." In another instance an older man sought psychological help because "he was taking too long" to get over the death of his father who had died two weeks earlier!

Grief, loss, trauma: these are occurrences in life which have a long-term impact. Some statistics indicate that it takes about two years to recover from the death of a spouse, six years from the death of a child. People vary; circumstances vary. But it is safe to say that in the case of death, the grief just begins after the funeral. Time is needed to recover from all these events in our lives which are indeed not self-induced but come from outside stressors. If our lives are already over-committed, it is harder to take the time we need for unexpected recovery.

7. Beware of the expectations of others. When I was living on a high wire during my college days, people whom I respected gave me mixed messages of approval and disapproval. They would tell me to "slow down" or warn me not to take on so much. Yet in the next breath they would compliment me on all I was doing. Or, worse still, they would add to my already overloaded schedule by asking me to do something else. Something worthwhile, of course! Yet the overriding message which came through was always approval, not disapproval.

I have found that friends who are committed to burnout will, of course, urge me to burn out with them! They may even try to make me feel guilty if I don't become involved in activities which in themselves are good, but which may add too great a burden to my already overextended schedule. In the process I've discovered that the advice of even godly friends is only as valid as their own perspective on burnout.

8. Watch for physical warning signs. One way to know if we are doing too much is by paying attention to the reactions of our bodies. Falling asleep at the wheel of our car, dozing off in church, being unable to concentrate, or having sleep habits or bodily functions change (such as insomnia, rising blood pressure, aching joints or frequent headaches), may all be symptoms of a schedule which is too pressured. 

Some statistics indicate that it
takes about two years to recover
from the death of a spouse, six
years from the death of a child.

It is dangerous, too, to compare one person with another. For example, I work and think fast and with great intensity. Therefore, I do more in less time than some people do in a longer period of time; but I also tire faster. I have to stop when it is time for me to stop, not when it is time for someone else.

Some people can sit on a log worrying for a short time and be more tired than a day laborer in a field. "Learn to listen to your body," a wise man once said to me, and his advice has made a great difference in how I feel and, ultimately, in how much I can produce.

9. Keep your focus. Finally, one of the surest ways I know to avoid the pitfall of burning out is to keep my focus on God. Great work is not ordinarily done in busyness. If, through prayer, Bible study and that inner speaking of the Holy Spirit within us, we truly commit our lives, not only to God's work for us but also to God's time schedule, we will find ourselves living lives of balance. A life lived for God in this way will not lack God's balance or God's supply.

10. Recognize the need for psychological help. This is important particularly after suffering a major trauma like street violence or a devastating tornado. Indicators of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome include ongoing changes in sleep patterns or eating habits, "flashbacks," diminished interest, feelings of detachment, instability and hyper-vigilance. This condition may require medication and counseling. Don't suffer needlessly.

For most of us who struggle to live a life of balance, it is instructive as well as humbling to remember the words of Peter Marshall after his first heart attack. As related in the book, A Man Called Peter, by Catherine Marshall: "Well, Peter," a friend asked, "I'm curious to know something. What did you learn during your illness?"

"Do you really want to know?" Peter answered promptly. "I learned that the Kingdom of God goes on without Peter Marshall."

1. Edna St. Vincent Millay, Collected Lyrics (New York: Washington Square Press, 1959). Reprinted by permission. Elizabeth Barnett, Literary Executor.

Copyright © 2001 by Narramore Christian Foundation

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