5 Desk Exercises that Help Prevent Burnout

Burnouts are no joke. Once you've crossed the threshold of spontaneous combustion, it can take a heavy toll on your mental and physical wellbeing. Your productivity tanks, creative endeavors become next to impossible and worst of all, your ability to interact with colleagues and loved ones is severely impaired.

We're not phoenixes - we can't easily recover from the ashes of a burnout. We’re more like, well, self-grooming cats… We can only burn out about 9 times. So we need to groom ourselves to stay well and healthy.

Understanding the hassle of burnout recovery, it's better to prevent burnouts than to put out the flames. Smoke yourself out at the earliest signs. Workday fatigue, occasional cynical comments, increasingly giving in to your guilty pleasures - all tell-tale signs that you're about to go up in flames.

The less conscious and deliberate you notice you're becoming day to day, the stronger the fire grows under your seated fanny. Always check up on yourself.

Taking proactive measures against burnout is essential - and frequent movement breaks is one of the most proven ways to prevent them.

Intervention studies show that regular exercising decreases work-related fatigue. Another reputable thesis carried out by Juriena de Vries points out to healing effects exercise has on work and study-related exhaustion. Not to mention the numerous research out there suggesting that exercise is a Chamomile treatment for our mental health.

So pick up your sneakers, put your favorite sweatshirt on, fling your laptop aside... wait. Hold up! Actually, you are welcome to stay exactly where you are and join us in these 5 light and slightly cringy exercises to keep the burnout extinguished.