There’s nothing more uncomfortable than realizing that you’re at the end of your rope. That feeling where you simply don’t want to do it anymore. But in fact, many of us won’t make it there. We prefer to coast to the very edge of falling into the burnout void, taking baby steps of self-care to bring us back to just beyond comfortable but not quite yet overwhelmed.
There are so many articles on the internet discussing how to address burnout once it happens, but there aren’t very many that talk about how to handle it when you’re constantly floating around the edge. And that’s what so many of us do, skate dangerously up to the brink — and then backtrack with a massage or one day off every now and then. Never quite allowing ourselves to actually see how close we are.
Self-Reflect, Ask Yourself How You’re Feeling
In order to truly see how close you are to burnout, you need to actually sit down with yourself a moment. Take a breath, find some time on a weekend or during a lunch break to be honest with yourself. Do you feel overworked? Are you losing your motivation to do things that otherwise wouldn’t bother you in the slightest? Do you feel like the last few months have been a constant refrain of you telling yourself to take more time off and you haven’t been listening to your body?
It’s easy to lie to other people. But you don’t need to justify your own actions to yourself. There’s no reason to lie. If you do feel a little stressed but you find yourself dismissing it, ask yourself why. Is it because you have one project that’s causing you short-term stress or are you choosing to ignore your own needs because they don’t feel important enough to you?
Get that pen to paper!
Write down what makes you stressed. Write down what self-care activities you have been doing and figure out which ones are working and which ones aren’t. Journal how you think you could break yourself out of your ‘almost burnout state.’
You might find that once you admit that you’re close to a burnout, it’s easier to acknowledge that you need to take time for yourself. You might not. We all respond to stress differently.
What will always help is writing things down. Whether you like it or not, you will find that your voice will always comes out. You can choose to ignore it, but for some reason, writing it down helps.
Talk to your friends, your family and if you have one, your therapist
Now that you’re determined that you are, in fact, closer to burnout than you might like, talk to people. Whereas before you might have wanted to ignore the signs, now you have the written proof that you feel overworked or stressed out of your mind. So, when you talk to your friends or your therapist — you can feel more confident in expressing these beliefs.
Most friends will agree with you. I’ve found that when I eventually admit to someone that I feel overworked, my friends and family are the first people to groan and not so subtly point out they’ve been telling me this for months.
Blissful ignorance is a beautiful thing.
The thing about never quite reaching burnout is that you’re still living in a world where survival and stress are your two number one priorities. You might not be at your breaking point, but you’re still operating on less than optimal capacity. Seeing the signs, talking to people and figuring out what works for you are key in truly beating back burnout.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what your version of beating back burnout is. I can tell you how to get there, but your journey is your own. Focus on using those few starting steps above and get the ball rolling. It might not be comfortable but finding that balance is never meant to be.