I Just Recovered From Burnout — Here’s How
I had the privilege to work on a gargantuan project recently. It was an audiobook, which very easily requires hundreds of hours of work if you do all of your own recording and editing. I have 2 other audiobooks to my name (which can be found here and here, if you’re interested), so I was absolutely expecting the project workload.
With that said, the last couple of weeks was the “final stretch”. I wasn’t even halfway through my process, so I had to spend those past two weeks working nonstop by living and breathing this audiobook and getting up at 6 in the morning to edit-record-edit until 11 at night. On weekdays, I was going to my full-time job and working 6 to 7 hours in the evenings on the audiobook. I wasn’t really having any window of resting.
I knew what I was getting myself into, and there are absolutely things that I could have done to have prevented this “final stretch” — but that’s not what this article is about. I pushed myself to the point of burnout.
Many people reading this have at some point experienced — or are currently experiencing, unfortunately — the phenomenon of “burnout”, which the Mayo Clinic describes as “a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.”
My burnout was more project-based, in this case. At my full-time job, I don’t feel particularly overworked to the point where I can’t find balance in life. With that said, there were methods that I personally implemented that would hopefully work for you whether you just finished a monster project at work and need the steam to cool down, or you’re currently in this perpetual Twilight Zone of always feeling overworked with no end in sight.
Please note that I’m not a psychologist or career development coach and that these are my personal methods to having gotten out of my burnout. If you have a serious burnout problem, I recommend seeking professional help. Otherwise, read on and take whatever information helps you best.
1. Rest Until You Drop
Once I finished my audiobook, I didn’t stop resting until I was sick of it. When I was done with my project, there was absolutely nothing I wanted to do. Even though I was hoping to get back into my Medium articles and other things, my body was saying, “No!” So, I listened to my body. I walked, watched YouTube videos, took baths, whatever. I got to a point of resting, though, where I was desperately ready to get back on track.
It’s not a matter of falling into a slump and not getting out of it. Be careful of that. When we live in this weird “hustle” culture, it’s hard to find the true value of resting. “Oh no, I’m not always working all of the time! This is bad!” Breathe — this is actually good. Listen to your body and honor its response. If your body is a car (cliché, but listen), your tank is now empty and you probably need an oil change, too. You need to stop everything and fix these issues before you get back on the road.
2. Find A Way To Reward Yourself
For me, this was relatively easy. I had a massive project that I was finishing up, so I had a whole laundry list of things to “reward” myself with, like going to a local restaurant that I always wanted to try or finally finishing that book I wanted to read.
There is only so much time in the day to do stuff that you actually enjoy even when you’re not in an overworked, burnout phase. Still, you need to remind yourself that what you’re doing in life is worth it. If you finished a project, you need to let out that massive dopamine surge that you built up. If you’re in a period of being worked nonstop, you may want to carve out a deliberate, particular time when it is just YOUR time to do some kind of reward for your work, even if that reward is just a 10-minute rest. This should hopefully take off any additional stress that you’re not satisfying a work-life balance and create a deliberate, personal “to-do” list item that cannot be compromised.
The rest is the car tune-up. The reward is gas to keep the car going — the car’s why in life.
3. Stop The Burnout
I’m saving the obvious for last. Burnout is not something that you should normalize in your life. When I was in the middle of my big project, I wanted to get out of it as quickly as I could. Granted, I can only work so fast, but I wanted to rush to a point when I could rest and reward myself. Ironically, this mentality probably contributed to my burnout.
I recommend pacing yourself as much as you can. You don’t want to fuel your burnout like I did, and you want to find any energy you have to get out of your burnout phase safely.
Why are you burning out? Let’s ask that question. Delve deeper — don’t think that the answer is obvious. You may be overworked because work is demanding a lot from you, but why? Do you need help and aren’t seeking it to impress your boss? Is your boss expecting too much of you? Are you so perpetually overworked that you just need to find a new job? What is the underlying cause? Find it, and take deliberate steps to resolve it. Sometimes, the solution is easier than you think it is.
Final Thoughts
This is my first Medium article in a while, and it feels great. During my month-long break, though, I had a lot of time to reflect.
There are a lot of ways to alleviate burnout. Remember the importance of resting, give yourself a reason to keep going, and most importantly, find a way to not make this overworking phase of your life your normal. If you read this article, chances are that you recognize that burnout is not healthy. Great! That’s important to realize.
Remember another important thing to realize from this article: your burnout is in your power to control.
