Have you ever had the experience of waking up in the morning and your body just feels so heavy that the thought of taking a shower, combing your hair and nourishing yourself with food just feels like too much?
You might just be in burnout, my friend!
Burnout is the insidious virus making its way through the general population that isn’t getting addressed enough. Yet it seems everyone is experiencing it! With the overlap of symptoms between burnout, neurodivergence and various mental health conditions, it can also be super confusing. (If you suspect that the symptoms you’re experiencing are due to a mental health condition, the strategies outlined in this blog can still help you…but please also consult a mental health professional.)
Here’s what to look for when it comes to burnout:
Signs of Burnout
Chronic fatigue
Easily overwhelmed, particularly with the day-to-day things
Increased irritability
A pervasive sense of dread
Withdrawal from social situations
Taking little to no pleasure in activities that you once loved
Sound familiar? Then you may be burned out…and it’s definitely time to start prioritizing your self-care!
Self-Care and Preventing Burnout
I wish I could give you a checklist for you to go through that says: complete all of these items and then you won’t be in burnout anymore. That’s just simply not how this works. Perhaps the scariest part of burnout is the uncertainty: how long am I going to feel this way? The unsatisfactory answer is that it takes as long as it takes to recover.The only antidote I can give you for burnout is this: self-care. (Are you starting to understand why I talk about this so much?)
Self-care is essential not just in recovering from burnout but from preventing it in the first place. When we can engage in preventative self-care, meaning self-care before we’ve reached the desperate moment of needing it, we’re essentially arming ourselves against all of the things that have potential to suck our energy. However, most of us engage in prescriptive self-care- where we only take care of ourselves once the shit has already hit the fan. This essentially fills us up just enough to go another little bit before we fall down exhausted again. Being in the cycle of prescriptive self-care is what tends to prime us for burnout.
So…what can be done about it?
Self-Care for Beating the Burnout
Here are some strategies for enhancing self-care and pulling yourself out of burnout:
1. Go Back to Basics
At minimum, make sure you're getting enough sleep and taking time to rest and recharge. You get to say no to things that would prevent you from having this rest and recharge time. Take deep breaths when you notice yourself feeling tense.
Move your body. Whenever we’re entering fight/flight/freeze, our brains are quite literally telling us to “run from that lion” or “kill that lion” or “play dead.” Moving our bodies allows us to process those commands. I like to think of this as shedding the shit we don’t need because our bodies will hold onto that unprocessed gunk resulting in more bandwidth being taken up…meaning we’re actually using more energy just to survive.
This doesn’t necessarily mean scheduling time for a full workout, although if you can that’s amazing! This can be as simple as shaking out your hands for 15 seconds after a stressful situation, having a dance party while you’re waiting for water to boil or marching in place as you wait in line at the grocery store. At this point, you're just trying to create an easy win for yourself.
2. Practice Mindfulness
This could look like engaging in practices like meditation, yoga or journaling. These practices have been proved time and time again to help manage stress, increase self-awareness and help with focus. But if you’re trying to cram these practices into an already full schedule, it kind of defeats the purpose.
I’d like to invite you into the practice of being present with whatever it is that you’re already doing. As you’re writing that work email, is your mind already thinking about the next thing on the to-do list? Or are you allowing yourself to feel your fingers on the keyboard and watching as the words form on your screen? Are you already thinking about the laundry that needs to be folded once you’ve finished washing dishes…or are you listening to the sound of the scrub brush as you’re washing that pan and really feeling the warmth of the water on your hands?
This level of presence literally rewires our brains to get out of fight/flight/freeze and back into safety. Having the extra weight of your brain constantly signaling to you that you’re in danger can actually worsen and extend burnout. When you can come back to safety, your brain doesn’t need to work so hard! Woo hoo!
3. Connect with Loved Ones
Schedule quality time with those you care about, whether in person or via technology. Don't be afraid to reach out for support if you're feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. Talk to friends, family, or a therapist if needed. Having a support network can help alleviate stress and provide a listening ear while you process any emotions that are burdening you and help you prevent those emotions from building up over time.
4. Be Gentle With Yourself.
You may at one time have been able to do certain tasks within a specific time period and/or at a specific level of quality. You get to let all of that go right now. It’s okay when things don’t go as expected. It’s more than okay; it’s a part of the process of recovering. Celebrate the little things. Did you get out of bed today? Awesome! Did you put on pants today? Winning! I make it a personal challenge to find the most minute moment in my day and celebrate that! (Then I celebrate the fact that I celebrated that.) So fun, right?
In all this, remember that recovering from burnout is not a one-time fix. It’s a constant coming back to you, giving yourself what you need and of course reaching out for support. By prioritizing your self-care, you can recover and come back to living your beautiful, joy-filled life.
In need of support? BOOK A JOYFUL POSSIBILITIES CALL WITH ME. We can chat about what’s most plaguing you right now in your life, some tools and strategies that you can implement immediately, and the possibilities available to you should you choose to work with me.These calls are free…and I pinky promise that there is value to just coming to the call, whether or not you opt into one of my paid offerings.
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I call that a win-win.
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