Burn out is something I’ve always been a little afraid of. After working basically two full-time jobs for 6-7 months straight, I was afraid that I’d burn out completely and have a major debt setback. Luckily, even after quitting my full-time job I didn’t have a burn out… until now.
These last few days have been really rough. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs with my business, my family, and my emotions and I’m definitely on a low right now.
This last weekend we celebrated my grandma’s 80th birthday with a surprise party and it was great to see so many members of my extended family come together to celebrate. Then yesterday the other side of my extended family experienced a tragedy in the form of a heart attack and an untimely death.
This giant emotional swing coupled with my desire to take a break from hustling has made these last few days very difficult and I’m really feeling burnt out. I know I can’t keep this “woe is me” attitude for long, so here are some ways I’m going to try to beat my burn out. Let me know if they work for your next burn out too.
Accept Your Burn Out
Burn outs happen. You can get burnt out from working too much, from huge emotional swings, and from lots of other factors. Sometimes your burn out will lead you to not want to work, but other times it leads you to want to take a break from your favorite hobbies.
While they aren’t fun, burn outs happen to nearly everyone at some point in their life. When it happens to you accept it and try to move on from it as quickly as possible. The worst thing that can happen is that you experience a huge set-back in your goals because you are burnt out. You definitely don’t want to have that happen if you can avoid it.
Get More Rest
After an emotionally taxing day yesterday, I went to bed at 8 p.m. Yep! I know it’s probably not socially acceptable, but when I sat down on the couch at about 6:30 p.m. social acceptance was the only thing that kept me from going to bed right then and there.
Then I slept until about 8 a.m. this morning. Now I’m still feeling a little blah, but I’m much better than yesterday. I think a lot of that has to do with the extra sleep I got.
Temporarily Adopt a Mindless Hobby
During some of my past burn outs I’d temporarily adopt a mindless hobby, like watching a marathon of re-runs on Netflix. (Pretty Little Liars, anyone?)
Although I tend to watch very little TV sometimes that mindless activity helps me rest my brain, and yet still be entertained, during a burn out.
Another mindless hobby I partake in is getting some exercise. Exercising is good for your body and mind. One of my favorite things about it is that it takes my mind off of whatever I’ve been worrying or stressing about whenever I get into an intense workout.
Eat Healthily
The last thing I want to do during a burn out is eat a celery stick, but eating healthy encourages your mind and body to recover from a burn out faster.
This is definitely a case of do what I say, not what I do. I may or may not have ordered a pizza last night. I’ll leave you to figure that one out. 🙂
Have you ever had a burn out? How did you recover from it?
