What is burnout?
In simple terms, it’s the deep mental, physical & emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged periods of stress. You know, like being stuck in a global pandemic for over a year, feeling helplessness, dread & uncertainty & wondering when you will ever see the light at the end of the tunnel?
It’s when everything feels overwhelming, pointless & exhausting. When all the joy has left the building.
Burnout doesn’t disappear on its own; it will get worse unless you get to the root cause & make some life changes. But when you are in a state of burnout, you can’t think clearly; at that point, you’re just feeling like a hopeless, overwhelmed, empty husk of a human.
So I want you to remember this:
I am making this plan fur us both, you and me, so we can save it and come back to it if we ever need it.
No big thinking required. Just come back to this saved post, take a deep breath & read it.
STEP 1: Decide to commit to rest & recovery – charge your battery like you would charge your phone until you get back to 100%. Or at least 90%
STEP 2: Distinguish between what you can & can’t control. Pick one small thing to do today that is in your control. Like watering the plants. Do that. Then in a few days add another thing like feeding the fish. This is called habit stacking. Your brain will love you for it.
STEP 3: Create boundaries & prioritize rest – anything that isn’t urgent or on fire can just wait for now.
STEP 4: Schedule daily “Me Time” for meditation, a walk with invigorating music, or checking in with your nervous system to see how you’re doing.
STEP 5: Hydrate – possibly the most boring thing I could tell you to do but my lord does it help relieve brain fog!
STEP 6: Connect with humans/ask for help – reach out to the humans that you love & ask for help. Your way of asking may look very different from mine but a message that I recently sent to a friend read “Can we have a chat? I’m not in a great place mentally & could use a friend”
What else would you add to our plan?! Comment below!