11 Things To Do When You Are Feeling Burnt Out
Hello my beautiful humans,
First of all I just want to say a massive thank you for the support on my recent video. It was pretty amazing of you guys to be so accepting of everything that's happening right now.
(If you don’t have a clue what I am talking about, here is the video if you want to check it out)
I also want to acknowledge the fact that so many people are going through this right now. Holy crap, I couldn’t believe the outpour over how you guys are feeling as well. I think this is just a reflection of the society we live in, where we are always expected to deliver more and more more, always better than the last. We never give ourselves time to stop or slow down, we’re always pushing forward.
We need to give ourselves the time and opportunity to reflect on what's happening, what has worked in the past and what hasn't worked in the past, so we can improve.
Here is a list of things that I'm personally doing right now, to help me throughout this period. I'm by no means saying that I'm an expert (clearly), I'm just learning to tackle the burnout my own way. I know that these things are going to help you, because they are really helping me.
#1: ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE NOT 100% AT YOUR BEST
It took me four months to acknowledge that something is really wrong. Until I could acknowledge that something was wrong, I was always blaming it on other circumstances and just trying to push through it instead of figuring it out.
Now I'm taking the baby steps to fix this. In my instance - video editing - It drains me. I want to make videos, I want to talk to you guys, not edit!
Being houseless, moving every one to three days with my digital nomad lifestyle has also been a bit intense. On top of this, not having any hobbies, not being social, it's time to change all that.
#2: HAVE A MINIMUM RECURRING INCOME ‘SECURITY BLANKET’
For people that are trying to make it in their industry, I would absolutely 100% recommend that you have an income coming in, even if it's a crappy job that you have to do just so you can maintain basic little income, because there is nothing worse when you're burnt out, trying to make it and you have no money coming in. You have to keep going, you have no choice and this does not help with burnout.
If you have a full time job and that is what's burning you out, maybe you can systemize what you do and outsource those really routine things that you do over and over again. I think most people get drained by the repetitive tasks and that leads me on to my next point…
#3: OUTSOURCE
There are going to be a lot of people are going to say “I can't do that, that’s not possible for me” but if your job is anything to do with a desk, we live in the most beautiful time right now where we can connect to people in different parts of the world, where they can do really great work for a fraction of the cost. In Asia, Philippines for example, you can find people for like $2 an hour to do very repetitive tasks that you can’t bare to do again.It frees up your brain power.
If you work for someone and they’re not willing to pay for that 2 dollars an hour, I would personally take that financial hit (if it's possible for you) because I know, freeing yourself up from minor, repetitive tasks is going to make you so much happier in the long run, because you can focus on bigger picture tasks, which not only makes you more productive, but it also makes you feel like you're fulfilling something and really contributing.
It could also potentially mean that you could cut down your hours as well because you would be speeding through work. You could go to the gym or the beach with that extra time!
#4: DO SOMETHING EVEN IF IT’S GOING TO SUCK
For me right now, I don't think that this is the best piece of work I've ever done in my entire life to be completely honest with you, but it is always better to do something that sucks, than do nothing at all.
#5: HAVE A ROUTINE AND STICK WITH IT
I love the quote “inspiration comes to me at 9 a.m. every morning”. It's because you are showing up and letting that inspiration come to you.
A lot of us wait in bed because we don’t want to do anything, just watching the time go by until midday or 2 p.m, and it throws off your routine. I really want to start at 9 a.m. and finish up at 5 p.m. and have a real job, because right now I am working at the stupidest hours (like today I'll be editing until 2:00 a.m. most likely and that is going to throw off everything!). I really am trying to put the routine together and stick with it.
#6: DON’T WEAR PANTS:
Pants are overrated. Just kidding! ;-)
#7: HAVE HOBBIES
Most people that talk about accomplishing greatness talk about this because you need to find inspiration from different sources. It is not from your work. Most likely it is when you're walking down the street, doing nothing related to your work, where you get a source of inspiration. You need to have hobbies, completely different to your work. Separate them because that is where inspiration very often comes through.
#8: BE SOCIAL
I am so excited to implement this into my life, I am so guilty of dismissing this and not thinking it's important, but we know that right now the world is going through a serious problem with disconnection. All of us are lacking human connection and it makes us feel bad.
Being able to vent to your friends and having them there to listen to you - sometimes that’s all you need, so get out there, call your friends that you haven't called for a long time and just say “hey, beer time/Coffee time?”.
#9: BE ACTIVE
I gotta say, this one's a tough one for myself right now too. All of us know that being active helps you feel better, so I just recently started ‘30 days of yoga’ with Adriene on YouTube, she's super cool. I have already noticed that I'm feeling better and I have so much more mental clarity after I do the exercises 30 minutes a day. We all have 30 minutes a day to be able to feel better mentally and physically. Do it, do it!
#10: EATING HEALTHY, MEDITATING & JOURNALING
They're all going to make you feel better! If you're not really into journaling I recommend it, even for the dudes, it just helps you vent and sometimes you just need a vent when your friends aren't around, or when you don't want to tell them specific things. Just jot things down on the paper, get it out of your brain, otherwise it just sits there on repeat.
#11: BE AUTHENTIC
This is a big lesson for me in a lot of ways, so I'm going to dedicate this point to myself!
A lot of the time, you guys know that I'm super hyperactive. I would say there are times where I forced myself to put that on because I almost feel like I have to put on this extra energy for you guys to love me instead of what I have to say. Yes I'm pretty full on, everyone knows me, they know that that's the case, but I'm not always like this.
I am probably going to turn that down in the days that I feel like it. Today I feel a lot more authentic when I'm speaking to you guys instead of putting it on, which feels good.
Secondly, I think one of the biggest reasons why I'm feeling burnout is because I don't know if the topics that I'm talking about are completely aligned with my heart. I love photography and I love travel - these are two things that are basically ‘me’, but I have so many more interests. I always say that you should stick to a niche, that you streamline yourself so people know exactly what they come to you for, but then I look at people like Tim Ferriss - this guy is a human guinea pig and you just respect him for being Tim Ferriss! I think I am going to go down the route of just being me and talking about the amazing things that I'm figuring out in life, financially, mentally, physically etc.
Obviously transitioning can be a little bit uncomfortable because you don't know how people are going to react, but for my mental health this what has to happen. So that’s basically what’s going down in the near future, which I am kind of excited about! Lets just see what happens!
Thank you again for being so amazing, such a cool bunch of humans, I love you guys! Until next time guys, peace!