Managers, especially those at the mid-level caught between front line employees and C-level executives, are taught one thing over and over again: Focus on others. Keep your attention, your time, your words, your gestures, and your priorities aligned with the needs of those around you. If your employees aren’t catching on to a new concept or are becoming disengaged, run out to where they are, like a border collie, and herd them back to the mission at hand. If your C-level supervisors need an action item completed, make their goals your goals and rally your employees behind the new plan.

Half of management may lie in leadership, and half may lie in obedience to the status quo, but after this division, what’s left over? Where can you find time to focus on your own career and your own mental health? And if your employees need you all day, every day, when can you find time to sneak away for a few bites of lunch or a few minutes of alone time? Here are few suggestions that can help you recognize the signs of burnout and recharge before you fall apart.

1. You don’t need to be accessible all the time. Take a half an hour for lunch every day and leave the building. Make this a priority. Not only will your employees survive without you, they’ll develop their own critical thinking skills and learn how to make decisions and take (minor) risks on their own. Get them used to the idea that you aren’t sitting at your desk all day long waiting to answer their questions.

2. Don’t let your bosses OR your employees drive you crazy…at least not without knowing why. If you’re irritated with a repeated behavior, command, or communication format, think for a minute and figure out why this bothers you so much. Then instead of focusing on diplomacy (which can enable the behavior), simply address the source. Let your employee or boss know that you’d rather be contacted by email then by phone. Or you’d rather by spoken to quietly then yelled at. Or you’d rather receive the schedule at the beginning of the day than the end.

3. Evaluate your life outside of work. Is there something happening in your actual life that you’re avoiding, hiding from, or working to overcome? Recognize the problem for what it is before you take things out on your employees.

4. Reconnect with your passion. When you feel like you’re on the edge of quitting, or at least snapping at someone who doesn’t deserve it, stop and recognize how far you’ve drifted from the way you felt when you entered this field. Find a way to locate your lost passion, even that means taking a few days off to travel or think.

For more on how to ward off burnout while sitting in the manager’s chair, reach out to the staffing and career development pros at Expert.