Hi! My name is Sara and you haven’t heard from me in a loooong time!
If you recall way back to October-ish, I mentioned I’d be taking a hiatus as I prepared to move across the country. Well, my short hiatus turned into an embarrassingly long writing break. So long that I questioned whether I should even resume this writing endeavor.
But here I am, back at it and ready to fill you all in on the details of the last few months.
To keep things short, my move was just the start of a tumultuous season featuring a car accident and months of 12-14 hour work days leading up to a lay-off that I knew was coming eventually.
To call myself stressed was an understatement… I was straight-up burned out.
I’ve felt “burned out” before but never to this extent. I reached a point where I could barely summon the energy to cook dinner from scratch let alone entertain the thought of picking up one of my favorite hobbies.
Knitting, woodworking, writing? These sounded like chores.
Exercise and the outdoors? Hah! I couldn’t remember the last time I’d stepped foot on a hiking trail.
This week I’m returning to the Substack journey with a few lessons learned in about productivity and burnout.
Burn Out and Its Impact on Creativity
Burnout isn’t just a buzzword you see floating around LinkedIn. It impacts you mentally and physically, and when left unaddressed burn out can make it difficult to even function.
Burnout is a stress condition that leads to mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion. Anyone who is exposed to stress is prone to burnout — many times it is job related although high-stress responsibilities like child-rearing can cause it too.
So how do you know if you’re experiencing burnout?
Well, do you feel like this?
Do you feel like a tornado made of the following emojis?
If so, you might be dealing with burnout! Yikes!
The effects of burnout are pretty obvious…. exhaustion, crappy work performance, etc.
In the creative sense, you can expect reduced productivity and creativity. Favorite hobbies feel like work and your creative outputs just won’t be as impactful as they could be. Sounds defeating, rightg?
Bouncing back from burnout
Now let’s fast-forward to today; I’m learning, making, crafting. I’m slowly getting back to my favorite hobbies and increasing my energy levels.
So, what changed?
I did nothing.
Not really… I rested. Doing “nothing” and being “lazy” for a few weeks has been more productive than I ever expected.
It’s amazing how quickly a person can bounce back address burnout with REST. I’ve abandoned my constant mental state of “fight or flight” from working an overly demanding corporate job and my plate now has some space again!
I’m still regularly applying to jobs and working on my resume, but I’m also spending a lot more time doing things I enjoy… podcasts, crafting, gardening, and even some woodworking.
Another perk — the mundane chores of my life now have a place again. I’m cooking dinner a few times a week, taking the lead on grocery shopping and household budgeting. All those things that you let go first when you’re overwhelmed and chronically stressed.
Ideas to bounce back from burnout
As we jump into 2024, I’ve been inundated with content around New Year’s Resolutions. New Year New You has returned to my social media feed with the announcements of fitness and diet goals, resolutions to take careers to new heights, etc. And we all need to do it publicly for the whole world to witness our ascent to greatness. (Where’s the eye roll emoji??)
This year I’m tapping out before I start. Instead of setting lofty, often selfish goals, I hope to pace myself and focus on a slow, mindful approach to my goals. I hope this will both help me avoid burnout and retain a healthy perspective on my priorities.
If this resonates with you, I’d like to share a few ideas to help you stay on track and work towards a fruitful year ahead:
Rest: One thing I’ve learned from the last year of a toxic work environment is this - take your damn PTO!
If your job success is dependent on you never taking vacation or worse yet, working while on vacation, you might be in the wrong job. Turning “off” and resting is imperative to success at your job and success at your creative outlet or craft.
Set some boundaries or start applying elsewhere… your future self will thank you!
Prioritize your health: I know this is a “no duh” tip, but keeping up with a bit of exercise and maintaining a healthy diet will keep your immune system in good shape and keep you on track when your stress-levels really increase.
Set a selfless goal: New Year’s resolutions are overwhelming selfish in nature. There’s nothing wrong with trying to improve your health, fitness, or push ahead in a career, but so many of us do it to prove our worth or make a statement on social media.
Daily Grace Co has a great podcast about setting selfless goals HERE and it inspired me to rethink many of my goals:
The goals we choose should move us towards loving God and loving our neighbors rather than moving us towards loving ourselves - Daily Grace Podcast
I also have a feeling that setting a selfless goal, like volunteering and helping others is a path less likely to lead to the dreaded burnout!
More to Come
Now that I’m rested and ready to craft again, I’m truly excited to rejoin the Substack community and connect with all of you fantastic folks!
I’d love to hear from you all, so let me know if the comments:
☕Share your tips and tricks for avoiding burnout or tell me about a time where burnout really impacted your life.
⭐ Do you have New Year’s resolutions for crafting, making, or something else? I’d love to hear about them!
🧵What is your current craft or project? Share your progress with me!