Welcome back!
Last time you learned how to recognize the signs of being burned out, such as feeling tired or even irritable. Now that you’ve recognized there’s warning signs, what’s next? Here’s how to manage these feelings and recover so that you can get back on track.
Take a Break
Even though working towards your goals feels fun, you still need to take a break. At a minimum you should take at least one or two days off. However, if you’re already feeling burned out, then you may need to take a week or more off.
How do you know when you’ve taken enough vacation? Generally, you need to wait until you get to the point where you feel like you can relax – and then you need to wait a few more days.
If you’re spending your vacation worrying about the work you’re not doing, then you’re not truly relaxed. If you feel on edge, irritable or have any of the other signs and symptoms mentioned in the last lesson, then you’re still too stressed out to truly relax. If you have physical symptoms like a headache, stomach ache or sore back, then you’re still stressed out.
At a minimum, you should enjoy one full day of relaxing for every day that it took you to unwind. For example, if it took you one full day to completely unwind, then you should take at least one more full day off.
Here’s another hint…
Disconnect from technology during your vacation. That means you shouldn’t be checking your email, walking around with your cell phone in hand or otherwise connected via technology strings. Here are a few tips:
- Let your loved ones know that you’re on vacation and that you’ll re-connect with them when you get back.
- Turn your phone off. If you need to check it, just do it once per day at most. The same goes for your email.
Connect With Nature
Another way to help combat burn out is to re-connect with nature. This may work simply because it gives you a much-needed change of scenery. It’s also beneficial because it allows you to focus on things that aren’t related to work or your goals. For example, you can focus on the fresh air, the smell of pine trees, the warmth of the sun on your face, the wind in your hair, the animals you see… and so on. Indeed, you may even want to create extra entries in your gratefulness journal to acknowledge everything you experience.
Here are some ways to connect with nature:
- If you live in a large city, take a drive out of the city and go to a park or a similar place.
- Explore a nearby woods.
- Go swimming in a lake.
- Go boating on a lake or river.
- Dip your toes in the ocean.
- Hike in a field.
- Take a drive into the mountains (and preferably get out of the car to hike).
The possibilities really are endless and only limited to the nature opportunities provided by your location.
That’s it for this time. Next time you’ll discover even more ways to combat burn out!