Want to prevent burnout? Then keep your back burner lit.

Burnout is nothing to mess with. And it’s everywhere in the workplace.

Both employees and employers have struggled with productivity-killing fatigue and wondered about the solution. Recent surveys from Deloitte Analytics report that 36% of C-suite execs and 43% of all other employees “always” or “often” feel exhausted at work.

Most often, burnout happens because personal health and well-being become low-priority activities on the list of important things to do today. The tasks that drive productivity and progress take precedence over the time necessary to recover and refuel.

And there’s a very good reason for that.

Personal replenishment is a back-burner issue. It’s never the primary thing we do, and it’s not supposed to be.

The programs that help us stay at our best — getting our proper rest, unpacking our emotional baggage, finding life-giving recreation, and connecting with family and friends — run most often in the background. They support us by refilling our inner fuel tanks so we have the energy we need to do the work that’s out front — running a business, earning a living, serving the community and operating a household. They are supposed to serve us that way.

And while it’s not wrong to consider the habits that restore us as back-burner concerns, we can’t let the fire underneath them go out.

Attention to these supportive, self-care practices serves us much like regular maintenance on our vehicles. No one bought their car so they could change the oil all the time. But ignore that maintenance light blinking on your dashboard for too long and you’re going to have problems that aren’t simple to recover from.

So ask yourself: “Is the fire still lit under the back-burner habits that keep me at my best?”

If it’s not, try out this simple, 3-piece framework:

1. Do one thing daily that centers you.

The daily grind is called that for a reason. It’s easy to mindlessly wander into daily routines without giving much thought to what you need to be the best version of yourself.

And while no one burns out in a day, you can definitely get stressed out or burned down without practices that bring you back to the center and elevate your awareness of what you need to be at your best.

Setting aside even a few minutes for prayer, meditation, quiet reflection, inspirational readings, or a connecting conversation with a spouse or friend can help you start your day with a clean slate and a full heart.

2. Do one thing weekly that refreshes you.

Weekly cycles of rest are meant to anchor the rhythms of recovery. They create potential energy that allows you to reengage with force and effectiveness, much like the drawing back of a hammer lets you swing it with impact.

It’s no wonder that major religions have this pattern woven into their practices. Even fast-food restaurants and retail shops have adopted these needed weekly breaks to give workers time to step back and renew their energy.

Drawing back every seven days to go on a long walk, play a pickup basketball game, enjoy a date night with your spouse or significant other and attend church can provide you with potential energy for the week to come.

3. Do one thing monthly that resets you.

Monthly cycles allow time to take a longer look, reflecting on your patterns and trajectory and the behaviors that are creating them. You also get a clearer picture of how life and work are affecting you and what you might need to adjust to manage your stress and build some joy.

Taking a day away from the office to reflect and plan, scheduling an overnight getaway as a personal retreat and planning dinner with close friends for deeper conversation and connection allow you to realign your direction to match your higher intentions.

These rhythms that give attention to the back burner issue of our personal replenishment go a long way in keeping the front burners of our life and work burning hot.

So do this:

Put daily, weekly and monthly habits on your calendar for three months. Don’t let the tyranny of the urgent snuff them out. Then reflect, retool, and re-up for another 3 months. Take note of how these back-burner habits impact your front-burner entrees.

What’s cooking on the back burner might just make the meal.

Want to learn more? Then, be sure to register for our discussion, Full Tank: Building Rhythms to Avoid Burnout and Show Up at Your Best, with Mitch Harrison. The discussion will include a facilitated Q&A session with Vistage Chair Perry Maughmer.

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