Continuing to build off of the last episode, I want to talk about how to you begin the recovery process with regards to burnout.
You have now communicated that you are burned out and have gotten to the point where you can focus on your recovery. If you quit or lost your job, then the first part should be much easier…if you are on a sabbatical or just taking a chunk of PTO, it will be a bit harder. The first and most important thing to do is disconnect. From work, from thinking about work, from doing work. Focus on friends, family, partner, hobbies, travel, gardening, whatever…anything that allows you to not be in “work mode”.
If you quit or lost your job, there is the complication of your next job…so if you are going to apply to jobs or learn a new trade, set aside very focused chunks of time and when you aren’t in that mode, don’t think about it. Keep moving in those chunks of time, but ONLY during those chunks of time.
The overall keys to recovery are resetting your brain to remember what comfort, joy, balance looks like. It’s important to remember this is going to be a SLOW process. It’s not like you take a day or two…or even a week off…and you are back to normal. You are going to be processing grief, shame, embarrassment and anger to name just a handful of the emotions involved in recovery.
Shame and embarrassment, why would I feel those? There is nothing wrong with burning yourself out. You are correct, it’s very common thing in life…but the shame and embarrassment come near the beginning because you aren’t doing your job as you once did and your team suffers and more painfully at the end when you realize that it was you that put you in this state.
Yeah, that is the hardest part to overcome, but the most important part. You ignored your limits for too long and you put yourself into burnout by not knowing your limits or not communicating and living within your limits. If you don’t get to this moment of enlightenment…you are doomed to repeat the cycle.
The most important thing in this process is to be kind to yourself, be patient and focus on doing things that set you on fire that aren’t work related.
I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or want to dive more into a topic, let me know. Thanks for being here!
