“The land of burnout is not a place I ever want to go back to.” ~ Arianna Huffington
We’re living in an incredibly stressful time, and burnout is rampantly prevalent. I am seeing a lot of people who are very very tired. Physically and emotionally tired.
Burnout is real.
Despite what some may say, burnout is a legit experience people go through.
Burnout happens when your work-life balance gets out of sync. This has been a common occurrence in the last few years, with the rise in remote work and technology permeating our daily lives.
I’m seeing people that are having a very difficult time finding the necessary boundaries in order to manage their personal life and work demands.
If you’re feeling exhausted and sluggish, and even simple tasks feel extremely overwhelming to complete or you find yourself so stressed out that you’re quick to get angry or frustrated, you might be experiencing burnout.
Whether you recognize the warning signs of impending burnout or you’re already past the breaking point, trying to push through the exhaustion and continuing as you have been will only cause further emotional and physical damage.
Now is the time to pause and change direction by learning how you can help yourself overcome and heal from burnout, to start feeling healthy and positive again.
The “3R” approach to Healing from Burnout
Burnout looks different for everyone, although it can affect you physically, mentally and emotionally its important to understand what you can do to heal from it. The key being you CAN RECOVER from it.
Here is my 3R approach to begin healing from buring out completely:
– Recognize. Watch for the warning signs of burnout. Signs like fatigue, feeling apathetic or dissatisfied with your life and work, tension headaches, changes in eating and sleeping patterns.
– Reverse. Undo the damage by seeking support and managing stress.
– Resilience. Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health.
Healing from Burnout
One of my dear friends who is an author, and business coach with very strong values doesn’t experience burn out anymore. She said in one discussion on this topic: “We’ve got to block out at least an hour per day for meditation, silence, prayer, reading, journaling, exercise, communication with family and friends . . . er, make that two hours, Zeenat!”
Well, I know that all of those things are important, and I not only practice them, I also teach them. But when burnout takes over, values get shoved aside so that you can spend every minute stressing and working. Priorities shift from living a balanced life to chasing an unobtainable moving target.
How to recognize when you’re Burning out?
When you’re chasing after your own unobtainable big goals, you eventually burnout. You become deadened to the beauty of life unfolding all around and within you. The little moments of joy, relaxation, fun, and spiritual rejuvenation that give meaning and texture to life disappear.
When I’ve been in this state, nothing seems to matter anymore. I don’t care about going to the movies, seeing family and friends, exercising, getting a massage, or gardening. It’s as if all of my interests and pleasure receptors have dried up and fallen off.
I know I’m burning out when the holidays are coming up and instead of making plans to do something with my daughter, I decide to work. I know I’m burning out when I stop wanting to take care of the plants. I know I’m burning out when the sight of anything fun awakens zero interest. I know I’m burning out when meditation, exercise, being in the kitchen, and going out for anything…from food to movies to gifts….feels boring.
Sounds a lot like depression right? Its not, but it can lead to depression if not handled quickly.
A Healing Self – Reflection Exercise to Heal Burnout:
Ask yourself again and again-> What Did I Once Enjoy Doing?
When I was a kid, I’d been initiated into the joys of playing badminton by my school friends. Because the badminton racquet is light and the shuttle even lighter, even children, given enough practice, can get really good at the sport. I lived to play badminton, which is where most of my pocket money went. I went on to become an inter school champion in the sport. The tennis super star Mahesh Bhupati was my senior in high school at the time. I learned and practiced with him too. That was my joy space.
As I grew older, badminton became less important, but unbeknownst to me, the racquet and shuttle had left corresponding impressions in my neural circuitry. Several years later, when I’d experienced burnout, I happened to drive past a sports club that had a huge banner outside, offering space to play badminton and classes for people who wanted to learn the sport. Like a summer camp for kids. I stopped there just staring at the sign. My friend who was with me and knew what I was going through, pulled me into the sports club despite my protestations that I had too much to do, etc. etc. and didn’t like badminton now anyway. However, the simple act of picking up the badminton racquet and shuttle and flinging it around the court reawakened youthful neural networks primed by possibility, and soon I was laughing and having the time of my life.
Ask yourself again and again: What did I once enjoy doing?
You may not remember the joy you once felt in a hobby or activity that has fallen off your radar, so you may need to enlist a friend or loved one in helping you remember. One of my friends who is in her 70s was an avid yoga lover in her youth. During a burnout period of her own, she noticed a yoga class at her gym and signed up. It was as if a light switch were turned on inside her. Something just clicks when you ask yourself the right question and are open to the possibilities.
Counterclockwise Study
A Harvard professor of psychology, in 1981, Ellen Langer conducted a fascinating study of how we can improve well-being by doing things we enjoyed in our younger years. She calls it her “counterclockwise study,” and you can read more about it in her 2009 book, Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility.
Ellen and her colleagues created a time capsule of the world as it was 22 years earlier, in 1979, setting up in an old monastery in Peterborough, New Hampshire. They invited two groups of men in their late 70s and early 80s to live in the meticulous re-creation of the late 1950s for one week each.
One group was instructed to pretend that the year really was 1959 and talk about “current” events like Castro’s victory in Cuba and Nikita Khrushchev and the Cold War in the present tense.
The other group spoke of events in the past tense more as observers than participants.
All of the volunteers were tested physically and cognitively before the study began and again at its conclusion. While both groups showed increases in strength, flexibility, memory, and intelligence, the group who had acted as if it were really 1959 improved the most. Living like younger versions of themselves actually rejuvenated the men, demonstrating the profound effect that our thinking has on our body.
I imlpore you to think back to a time before you were burned out, when you were at your prime and filled with enthusiasm for life’s possibilities.
What did you enjoy doing?
Choose one activity which you enjoyed with childlike glee (like badminton or bowling or running, for example), and put it on your calendar. This is an experiment. If it rejuvenates you, add it to your regular schedule. If it doesn’t, choose another activity from an earlier time in your life.
Make sure to get out your calendar and actually add this to your schedule.
You healing depends on it!
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Positive Provocations 
What a great exercise for burnout, Zeenat. I would have never thought of this on my own. Thanks for telling us about your personal experience and sharing this method with us. I liked to color as a kid and have picked up the habit as an adult. Sometimes, at the end of the week, when I feel the signs of overwhelm or burnout, I get out my coloring book and colored pencils and devote an afternoon to coloring.
Sandra, I love that you picked up coloring as your way to destress. I recently gifted my 16 year old a mandala colouring book to get her started off early 🙂 I’ve sneeked in a few pages of coloring on there myself ❤
A whole afternoon for colouring sounds blissful. I must try it ❤