Burnout: Creating Space for Options
Even though many articles currently mention a shortage of good employees and a trend toward trying to retain and recruit qualified people, the reality is that many of us don’t feel good about our employment situation, but have responsibilities that make it seem impossible to leave. This can create a feedback loop of “What am I doing wrong? Why is everyone else in demand and I’m not? Why can’t I just be grateful for having a job? Why is it so hard to get up and go to work or stay focused? Is it really that bad?”
If you feel bad, you feel bad, and over the past few years, all of us have been under a lot of stress. Even though, overall, the pandemic situation isn’t as grim as it was at the start, many of us are still processing the loss of loved ones we couldn’t mourn properly during COVID, lost opportunities, the rhythms of daily life without masks or social distancing, a land war in eastern Europe, and the existential questions that arise after surviving multiple historic crises. Understandably, a lot of us are asking, “What does it truly mean to live a good life? What will make me feel like what I’m doing is meaningful to me?”
It makes sense to ask these questions, and it makes sense to struggle with them because nobody has an easy answer, and there’s a general sense of fatigue among us from weighing options every day.
What I invite you to do, is find some space and time for yourself to replenish your energy and just give yourself permission to not have answers for a while and to give yourself the grace to accept that. If you’re reading this post, you are probably either burned out or suspect that you might be. This isn’t the best headspace for making important decisions, but it is a good time to focus on self-care and reflection.
Here are a few ideas to help you on your journey to regaining your energy and perspective:
Reflect on your support network. Who are you close with? How often are you actually connecting with them? Making a call or two a week to someone you love to talk to and feel supported by can make a huge difference and it’s much more powerful than texting. It’s also helpful to keep pictures of people you care about near you. Consider having them rotate in a digital frame, on your phone wallpaper, or desktop (if you can do that with the computer you use most.) Faces actually do make a difference.
See your friends. Give hugs. (Make sure everyone is boosted and be safe, of course.)
Seek and enjoy comfort. Turn up the space heater. Revel in having a fluffy blanket on your lap while you work. Wear soft clothing whenever you can. Use aromatherapy that you enjoy.
Take time every day to zone out. Meditation is a great practice, but you don’t need to start at yogi level to get benefits from just staring off into space for a few minutes a day. Another option is some sort of craft like origami or knitting that doesn’t take too much concentration but puts you in the present moment (and off your phone.)
Say no to the news. I know. I know. Important events are happening. If you're a journalist, you don’t have options, but for the rest of us, one update a day is plenty, and preferably not right at the start.
Block people who randomly reach out to you and make you feel awful. You know who I mean. They don’t get better. They probably are fine people, but not for you. Let them go.
Do things that make you smile. Watch your favorite movies from childhood. Listen to a playlist that only you truly love. Make your favorite snack. Make a dinner you’ve never cooked before.
Journal about your thoughts and feelings.
Map out your actual options and resources. Initially, it often feels like we don’t have a way out of our current situation, but often that’s not completely true. Maybe a way out involves compromising on something that once seemed important, but I challenge you to just brainstorm all options.
Once you feel like you are in a more settled place, you can finally start asking yourself what your next steps are, but that is for another post.
