What to do if you're burnt out but can't take a break
The global pandemic is far from over but restrictions are slowly being lifted and we are finding a new normal amongst all the face masks, social distancing and hand sanitiser. Part of this re-emergence into the outside world is recovery with the mental and emotional strain of lockdown. For many people, this has meant recognising that they are burnt out but acknowledging that they may not be able deal with it as they may previously have done - by taking time off work and perhaps going on holiday. For most people, the reality is that they have to carry on working or have to return to work whilst adjusting to the new normal and being there for their vulnerable friends and family who still have to shield. But that doesn’t mean your health should be ignored. There are still things you can do to help yourself if you are burned out but can’t take a break.
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels
To begin with, respect what is happening.
They say ignorance is bliss but this is not the case if you’re struggling. The good news however is that you’ve recognised that you’re struggling because that, the first step of acknowledging that there is a problem, is often the hardest part. Now, it’s important not to do yourself an injustice by trying to disregard this realisation and continue steaming ahead at full speed with all your tasks, goals and responsibilities. Life is busy but it always has been and always will be so it’s okay to take a moment to pause and reflect upon how you’re feeling. Respect what you, your mind and your body are going through and allow yourself to fully feel all the emotions you are experiencing, even the overwhelmingness. Doing this can be freeing because it will liberate you from the pressure of trying to keep everything bottled away inside and that in itself will help you a lot. People often become burnt out when they take on more than is healthy for them to handle and this includes emotionally. A large part of healing is therefore letting go and thus moving on.
But it may not be an overnight process, in which case journaling can help.
Journaling can seem like a tiresome and cumbersome task that you just don’t have time for but rest assured, it’s a tried and tested technique that genuinely works and that’s because it’s cathartic. Whatever causes a burn out - working too hard, dealing with too much stress or prolonged emotional distress - physically expressing the issue and the emotions it’s evoking can help stop the chaotic buzzing of thoughts in your head that often accompanies burn out. Express yourself either by talking (whether it’s to a therapist, a friend or family member, it doesn’t matter so long as you trust them to validate your experience) or by writing it down. Either way, it will help you sort through and work out what you are going through. Working things out this way can also help you identify whether there’s a serious change you need to make in life because it’s causing the burn out, like removing a toxic person from your life, moving home or changing a job, or whether it’s just a consequence of current experiences and therefore something you need to be supported with as it plays out.
Photo by Vlada Karpovich from Pexels
Once you’ve sorted through the cause(s) and emotions, you can organise yourself for time off.
Use whatever you want to organise yourself - apps, day planners or writing down everything you have to do for the day at the start - and then create a schedule. By scheduling your time, you can find when during your day you can take some time off and unwind, even if it is just for fifteen minutes. Finding some time like this everyday is really important because daily concentrated time off, accumulated over a period can help combat burn out and prevent it from happening again. It is important however that you actually use this time off to take a break, despite your long to-do list, whether that’s watching mindless TV, taking a bath or doing a puzzle. It’s also worth knowing that because you’re burnt out, at first, it will be difficult to switch off and just relax during your time off so you may be tempted to just call it quits and crack on with your to-do list instead. However by making a daily practice of it, you’ll soon get used to it and find it easy to switch off and unwind and so slowly heal from burn out.
Because this can then allow you to do stuff for yourself.
This might sound obvious and you may think you already do this but most of the time, women in particular, tend to think themselves in terms of the roles they play in life - mother, daughter, sister, friend, girlfriend, wife, employee, boss etc. We can lose ourselves in this and forget that we are our own person too, which further perpetuates burn out. So to combat this, do regular activities just for you and if you’re stuck with what to do, use these three guidelines: 1) it should be something that you enjoy, 2) it should be something you can do yourself and 3) it should be something that reminds you of who you are. Being in or doing something in nature is a great option that will help with grounding as well. If you’re really pressed for time then the time off mentioned above can be used as an opportunity to really do something for yourself but if possible, it’s better to keep the two separate. That way, your time off can be used to interact with others like catch-up with a friend or play a game with a family member and you can have time to do stuff just for yourself too. Together, these allocated periods should help you reorient yourself and overcome burn out without taking a holiday.
