Burnout! It can happen to anyone!
Feeling overwhelmed and burnt out?
I don’t often show it. In fact, I can hide much of what I am experiencing in the moment. I put on the so called ‘brave face’ it’s something I have been good at for a long time. I am the one who can be so ill vomiting from a bug and you’d never pick it. (I have no idea why I do this) The time it did all surface and I could no longer hide was when I worked in my corporate job and had a complete melt down.During that time in my life, I was in total disarray. I was working crazy hours, eating crap and drinking too much vino to deal with the stress of my job. My weeks were spent recovering from some awful hangover. Sunday was spent having a long lunch trying not to think about the week ahead. Mondays were the bane of my life. So, sad, to think I lived like that for so long.I was a mess but did nothing to help myself. I didn’t feel like I could ask for the time I needed to rest. I felt if I told someone exactly how I felt my bosses would label me weak and incapable of doing my job. All in all, I felt like a total failure.
What did this teach me?
Well, it taught me so many things about myself but also people in the work place. Showing up for work and doing the job is often not enough! People want recognition for the job they are doing. To get recognition and a pat on the back you might be the last in the office. Or the first to arrive in the morning? Maybe work when your flu is making you feel like death warmed up? Some might even miss an important milestone in a child’s life.The biggest learning, I received from this stressful period in my life is the ‘wisdom of rest’. It’s not ground breaking stuff! Even the most intelligent of human’s underestimates rest.
“The Wisdom of Rest”
Take a break
Taking a break, no matter what that break looks like is a necessity, not a luxury. But what that break looks like could be different for many people.
Here are some easy ideas:
1. Take 10 minutes out each day to rid yourself of the external chatter. I have a little play on candy crush. It clears my head and allows me to move onto the next task with clear focused clarity.
2. Sign up for a meditation APP; you don’t need to be sitting in zen for an hour each day. But 5-15 minutes of quiet time helps to rest your nervous system and restore your body.
3. When you are doing an activity, have on your blinders. Multitasking creates anxiety and internal conflict. You'll experience heart palpitations, stomach cramping and hot sweats. Stick to the ONE task you are doing at that moment and don't get side tracked.
Taking these simple steps will help to reset your hormones for the day.
Your Hormones
If your cortisol is going crazy high take ten minutes out. This'll bring cortisol down to where it should be. Small consistent steps will help balance your thyroid, blood sugar and help stabilise oxytocin levels.Not only is resting vital for you and your hormonal balance. Resting is essential for your metabolism and muscle recovery.
Rest and Your Weight
I was recently talking to Debra Atkinson from flipping 50.com. Debra explains how rest between exercise is even more important than the exercise itself. Without rest, your body won't have a good chance to integrate the training. Not resting between exercise can cause inflammation, continued weight gain and burnout. So, going at it seven mornings a week might be doing your metabolism and weight loss efforts a disservice.
Rest between exercise is even more important than the exercise itself!
I always emphasise to my clients the value of resting, relaxing and restoring. Some can shift quickly and easily into this. Others look at me as though I have two heads. That’s when I know we need to go slow and focus on mindset.At the end of the day, it is about perception. I enjoy as much as the next person working and creating a life which I can make the most of. I like feeling valued; I like feeling like I have a purpose and am giving back to the world. But I also know for me to continue to be able to live like this and work in service for others rest is a top priority.It took me a long time to get over that feeling of feeling lazy or even guilty and now I relish in it. I love the time-out I purposely create for rest.
Time to Chill
In fact, this afternoon I have a facial booked. During which I won’t have my phone on, I will relax, chill and allow that 90 minutes to restore my body back into balanced-bliss.I hope you can do the same.So why not go away now and book that thing you have been thinking about. Block out that time for a massage, facial. Book it out for that bit of luxury, not the thing you have to do but the thing you choose to do for yourself in that moment.Enjoy.
I’d love to know what you choose to do for YOU TIME