These days, more people are not just working from home – they’re working longer hours. Home and work life are blurring together, affecting mental and physical health. This trend is not a positive one and needs to change. You deserve a break, so here are self care tips by personality type to help you avoid burnout.
Why self care by personality type? Some people by nature work harder out of a need for competition, while others find it more difficult to maintain focus. My business mentors told me about the four basic personality types, which I describe here but with different names (to avoid copyright issues). Which personality type are you, and what will you do for self care?
Self-Driven Hard Worker
The self-driven hard worker runs on never-ending batteries. They will forget to eat while they pursue a goal for the day. This personality type are often leaders and like to get straight to the point because they don’t like to waste time. They enjoy the finer things in life, desiring a lifestyle of luxury and wealth as an ultimate goal. If they are on vacation, or playing a game, they tend to be competitive and need an objective for the activity. They can be extremely focused.
Taking a moment for self care is most challenging for the self driven, hard worker. They will ask questions such as, “Why take the night off to watch a movie when I can keep going and hit my next milestone?” Achievement after achievement is its own reward.
Unfortunately, these hard workers could burn out and suffer from health problems. They need to take a much-needed break to eat a proper meal and enjoy some fresh air with friends or family! Having a little fun will not result in disaster or an episode of laziness, and this is hard fact for them to accept.
Detail-Oriented Analyst
People who fall under this personality type tend to over analyze and be very critical of many aspects of their life. Unlike the hard worker, who will take risks, the analyst needs to know all the facts up front before making a decision. They love details and keep meticulous records. They can be very tidy and organized, and they feel safest when they can anticipate what their future holds.
A detail-oriented analyst will take the time to pamper themselves or take a vacation if they know that everything is under control and carefully planned out. They will take the night off after they have planned out their day for tomorrow. They will try out a new spa treatment or yoga class if they have researched it first.
You can count on the analyst to thoroughly research your vacation destination, to plan out activities, schedules, and prices. It may intimidate them a bit at first but encourage an analyst to leap into something without knowing what they are getting into. Ask them to join you for a night about town and tell them your destination will be a pleasant surprise. A little adventure can be fun!
Devoted Humanitarian
The humanitarian puts friends and family first. Their objectives in life and career tend to revolve around what they can do for the people they care about, as well as humankind in general. They tend to be shy and quiet in personality (but not all of them are introverts), and they like to play it safe. They will work hard if it means their paycheck will cover the cost of hockey practice and uniforms for their child, or ensure that their parents have a nicer place to live. They tend to be selfless.
Self care can be a challenge for these humanitarians. They are so focused in giving and caring for others that they will sacrifice their own time, well being, or finances for another person. They need to try to put themselves first occasionally to avoid burn out.
Instead of giving their spouse a day off, for example, they should take the day off themselves and not feel guilty about it. Even if family members don’t show appreciation for what a humanitarian personality does, these personality types can give themselves a well-deserved time off.
Big-Picture Enthusiast
The big picture enthusiast is social and gets along with people. They can be the life of the party and the team member that coworkers consider most amicable. If there is a project at work, they tend to focus on the bigger goals and encourage people to become involved. However, they are sloppy with details and find it difficult to stay focused, especially if a task isn’t fun. Their biggest motivator is fun. If they like an idea, they will jump in and try it out, often without weighing the consequences.
For a personality type that likes to enjoy life, they too need some time for self care. They need to set goals and check in to make sure that these goals are achieved. Did they reach their income goal for the month? Did they complete all the mundane paperwork?
Taking the time to ground themselves in these less exciting aspects of life is important. Otherwise, they may find themselves missing out on important deadlines or stressed out and dealing with the aftermath of bad decisions because they didn’t do enough research. Enjoying life is good, but everything needs balance.
Summary
No one is exactly 100 percent one of these personality types. You could be predominately one of these types when you’re working and another when you aren’t. You could be a combination of any of these types, like a combination pizza of multiple flavors. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each type will help you focus on what you can do for your own health and well being. What self care will you work on this week?
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