How I recovered from Burn-out

Summary:

1. Take a break

2. Break your schedule

3. Have fun

4. Make a twist

What is burn-out? In basic terms, it is getting exhausted from doing one thing everyday, the sudden lack of motivation either due to the resurgence of impostor syndrome. Burn-out affects some aspects of one’s life, or worse, the entirety of their life, especially when not treated as fast as possible.

It is everyone’s worst nightmare. So, how did I get through it? I did four things:

1. Take a break

Of course, everyone knows this by now. But it’s really a crucial component for me in mending burn-outs. It sounds counterproductive at first, however, it actually isn’t. Basically, I disconnected myself from my productive state and reconnected to my full-on creative state where I can do things that are completely unplanned for the day.

I didn’t write or read anything for two weeks, however, I did renovate my garden, re-paint the front of our house, and cleaned our vehicle. In other words, I did something new that interests me the most, some long over-due. In other words, break your schedule and have a break from it.

2. Break your schedule

Another semi-counterproductive. You and I know that I follow a daily schedule (except Sundays) and we both know, relating to my previous post, I started holding myself accountable for this year. That said, I ironically did not follow my schedule for two weeks straight. Except for gardening (I don’t find it tiring or stressful).

And if you have a daily schedule like me, my advice, don’t follow it. Ignore it altogether if necessary. Instead, occupy yourself with something new, see what makes yourself tick.

3. See what makes yourself tick

As the heading says, I tried something new, as aforementioned in the second topic. Doing something new took my mind off from something that stresses me out or not find it entertaining anymore.

Ever thought of trying baking, sketching, perhaps music creating? Go ahead and jumpstart your creativity. Maybe you’ll discover something that you can turn into a routine or a hobby, or better yet, build a career out of it, now that’s a twist!

4. Do a twist

With a daily schedule, or doing things in the same timeframe everyday, makes our subconscious fully aware of it. It automatically activates when the time arrives. It is a good thing, however, like most things in life, it can be a bad thing. Like what happened to me.

My subconscious mind, fully aware of my daily schedule, got bored from doing the same things over and over again for days, weeks, and months. Hence, I made a twist by changing my daily schedule. Shuffled them. This made my subconscious caught by surprise.

Here's one idea I just thought of as I'm writing this. Write each of your daily activities in separate cards, flip them over so you can't see what is written, shuffle them, and pick one in random. What you get is what you will do after.

Another thing

I told my mom about my burn-out and she suggested that I take a break and do the 15-minute rule. It isn’t the 25-minute rule of “Pomodoro Technique”, it's quite different. Basically, I set up a timer for 15 minutes, do something productive within that short span, and when the timer’s up, I stop altogether, even if I am currently writing in the middle of a sente

(See what I mean?)

As I was saying, when the timer's up, I stop altogether and do something else for the entire day besides what I did within 15 minutes.

My mother got the idea from TikTok.

Conclusion

Burn-out isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, certainly ain’t mine as well. However, after going through it, and now recovering from it, I find it, however, a double-edged sword. Yes, it can be a bad thing, it lowers your confidence and efficacy, but, at the same time, you’ll get more spare time rediscovering yourself.

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UPDATE: March 5, 2022

Added ALT text to images.