How do I not get burned out?
A coworker asked me this last night; we were both working late and I wouldn’t get out the door until nine o’clock stretching my workday to a little over 12 hours.
Well, I do get burned out is my first answer. I mean, I have in the past. Plenty. I get burned out on work and emotion and life and end up having to shut down and rebuild myself up to functioning.
How do I not get burned out?
I prioritize commitments to myself as much as I do commitments to others. I like routine and promises to myself and I do my best to keep them: to meditate, to read, to write, to watch TV, to go to Zumba. To feel my feelings and try to go outside and walk the feelings through my body.
Part of not getting burned out is connecting to your greater meaning. This is another wisdom from the book I’m reading, Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, which I highly recommend to all women. At one point, the author talks about Disney’s Moana and her greater call to the water. What’s yours? What is calling you? Go after it even if no one supports you but the village crazy lady.
I find meaning in writing. I find it in being a good friend and a good sister and a good daughter. I find meaning in being good to myself: in pursuing growth and strength and courage and living out my personal vision. I hope to find meaning in someday becoming a parent.
Burnout is so much about running on an empty well to fulfill other’s expectations. Preventing burnout is about clarifying your values and your boundaries. I love my job and want to work hard. Occasionally I’m going to have a 12 hour day. But that will not be most days. If I have Zumba at 5:45, I’m leaving work at 5:30 without apology.
How do I not get burned out?
I’m working on creating a life for myself with multiple avenues of meaning. A life that isn’t wholly my career but is still my career. A life that isn’t wholly my writing but is still my writing. A life where I’m still learning who I am but I learn that from within, not from other’s expectations of me.
A better question: what have I learned from getting burned out?
Or: how do I manage through burnout?
I do get burned out but I’m learning there’s another way. Practice, practice, practice.
With Love,
Natalie