Avoiding Burnout When Working on a Big Project

Some projects just feel endless and sometimes it seems like no matter what you do something is going to go wrong making it extremely hard to stay motivated. Our garage addition this summer took over 7 months because of countless set backs and unforeseeable difficulties. We were fully into burnout. In fact, I would say, we were BEYOND burnout. My tip for staying motivated is pretty terrible actually – just keep working on it. We all have a tract record of getting things done and getting through tough times. I remind myself to put my head down, put my boots on and just proceed. Even if it is just one tiny little step at a time it is still progress and the project will eventually get done.

(This is a contributed post, for more information about my compensation please read my disclosure policy)

Burnout is a real problem that can afflict people in all sorts of different areas of their lives, ranging from their careers, to their interpersonal relationships. 

Regardless of whether you are grinding to try and excel in your career and to put your best foot forward, or whether you are working on a large-scale DIY project that you want to get just right, it’s important to do what you can to maintain proper balance and to avoid burning out.

When burnout occurs it may mean a significant blow to your health, the collapse of your sense of wellbeing, and a major struggle with regards to maintaining any kind of motivation or energy on a day-to-day basis.

Here are just a few tips that might help you avoid burnout when you’re working on a big project.

Take rest and recovery seriously

If you’ve been engaged in exhausting physically active work, it’s highly important for you to do whatever you can to rest and relax your body, and to alleviate the aches and pains you might be experiencing — such as by researching a bed for back pain relief.

But the basic principle is just as true when it comes to the kind of mental and emotional fatigue and exhaustion that can occur as a result of working on a big project while sitting at a desk, or while interacting with other people face to face.

Rest and recovery are things that people all too often neglect in our results-focused culture, but making sure that you rest when you need to, and that you engage in activities that help to rejuvenate you, is essential for anyone who wants to safeguard their sense of wellbeing and to avoid burnout.

Don’t try to do too much in one go

Many big and ambitious projects can be totally overwhelming if you try to tackle them all in one go — and it’s largely for this reason that so many people avoid committing to these kinds of projects in the first place.

Ultimately, though, a lot can be achieved by tackling big and ambitious projects on bit at a time, instead of biting off too much up front.

When you try to do too much in one go, or try to get a big project wrapped up too quickly, this significantly increases the odds that you find yourself working over time, losing balance, and burning out.

Use time tracking tools to prevent the project invading your personal time

Various time tracking tools exist today that can help individuals to ensure that they are staying on task, and are avoiding the temptation to procrastinate.

Beyond this, though, using good time tracking tools can also help you to more effectively defend your personal time, and to prevent whatever big projects you may be working on from invading your personal time and contributing to burnout as a result.

To avoid burnout, it’s important to set boundaries.

(This is a contributed post, for more information about my compensation please read my disclosure policy)