How do you keep yourself from burning out?
Recently i saw alot of post on twitter, makers who are burnout. I have overcome burnout over past 6 months. Makerlog have help me in many ways.
If you have tips, do share with other makers in this post. Some of my tips:
- drink loads of water ( 8 cups a day )
- go out, away from your laptop/desktop for a day
- walk in the park
- talk to people: family, close friends and new people
- be open, share about your goals with others, don't be afraid
- go swimming, running, jogging, walking
- have more time for yourself
- when you rest, like sleeping more you will feel more relaxed
- cut down or remove unwanted social media: especially notifications
- eat your favorite food, reward yourself by eating healthy food too
- travel short gateways with someone or love ones
- take beautiful pictures, use it as memories
- stop smoking, stop drinking alcohol
- eat fruits and have balance diet
- Compare your regular tasks with your job description
- Pray to god, so it will purify your soul
- Keep your to-do-lists minimal, use makerlog is very good
- Important to change view everyday, not just on laptop screen
- Inspirational/Motivation videos won't help that much, but you can try
- Be more human, human, human.
- If you have pets play with your dog, cat or fish
- Do alot of deep breathing
- Go to class, workshop, courses: pick up new knowledge even you know it
- Look in the mirror and always look at yourself smile sincerely
- Clean up your dishes
- Water the plants if you have garden
- Tidy up your bed
- Clean your workstation desk
- Clean the fan or aircon
- Keep your room window open
- Use white light
- Don't forget to shave
- Wash your face
- Talk to makerlog community for support
- Be patience, don't be angry
- Do super little tiny task to big task
- Re-check your short term goals and long term goals
- Don't do anything stupid or super drastic
- Laugh more
- Learn something each day: cooking, reading book, write a blog, make video or take photo
I love this list. Thanks so much Fajar!
@fajarsiddiq Well, exercise has worked very well for me. Getting adrenaline and endorphins going is so important!
@sergio Awesome tiny baby little steps! This is good, I spent time walking alot everyday now back and forth. Exercise is good, i feel fresh! ohhhh yes!
Good (and long :) list! I've had a pretty serious burnout last year, and I'm beginning to think I am recovering from it recently.
What helps me is a combination of relaxation (for me that's walking in a forest, doing yoga, going biking, seeing friends) and planning. Since I started to think more structured about what to accomplish in the coming 3 months and then planning week by week what I want to do, my day-to-day stress levels have decreased a lot.
It's great to decouple the actual planning (which I do once per week) from the doing. So now in the morning I'm not staring at all my projects and tasks and feeling overwhelmed. Instead I've already selected and planned the things I would like to do that day, and don't look at the rest (until my next weekly review).
AMAZING!!! WELL DONE! Proud of you!!!! Me too, i had serious burnout. It was seriously tough to get back up. And i was facing fear and anxiety almost everyday when i sleep, i wake up 5x every night and sweat alot.
I love biking!!! yes meeting friend and planning is important. When everything is structured, accomplish and you feel better from time to time
@fajarsiddiq thanks for sharing!
I had 2 burnouts this year. I'm starting to think that it is not possible to keep building things aside while having a family, a 9-5 job, good health and other afk activities. Still fighting though, I hope I'm wrong!
You're most welcome dude! recently i remember you too! I hope you're doing fine.
Oh my 2x burnouts? Hope you are doing better! keep going
A great list with great ideas Fajar. It's about finding a balance that works for you but also not using all your energy in one go. Sometimes you will have a burst of loads of energy and use it all in one go.
Energy is like compound interest. If you use it well it can grow. If you use it all up then it runs out and that way leads to burn out. Taking mental breaks and finding other things to do is great for your head. It lets you recharge well.
thank you James, yes finding balance that best works for you from time to time on a day to day basis. True sometimes we have that powerful energy, especially after drinking coffee.
Yes we need breaks no matter how strong, focus or very well prepared. Sometimes we don't even know we are okay until we fall sick, mental health issues and etc. So very important to included breaks in between what we do. At times we need to sprint/focus/stay up late. Best is take break, go bed, go home and rest. Then comeback again
@fajarsiddiq You should have a read of Cal Newports Deep work http://www.calnewport.com/books/deep-work/. It's about learning and training your focus. It's a skill like everything else. If you build focus it can really help avoid burn out.
@jamesmkenny @fajarsiddiq That's a really good book! I can recommend not just reading it but also taking a weekend off like Cal suggests. Then you have time to go through the various questions and exercises in the book. Doing that really helped me understand what motivates me and what made me burn out.
Since I've been under a lot of stress with self-employment for the last two years (which I wasn't aware of), talking about the problems actually helped me. Also the way to the doctor was a blessing.
This year I accepted my new job because I had so many problems with independence. The problem was that by "always being at home" I built up a social guest who I can now only get rid of with tablets.
But at least it's a solution instead of being broken. :)
I think the first step is always to talk about it and not to eat everything into yourself.
Yes, talking about the problems is so IMPORTANT. I did this talking to a friend in 3 days, i shared everything and for hours we talk.
Good to know, you have new job! Congratulations. Yes being at home can be a problem, i've been at home doing my things for almost 10 years. But i go out for meetings, do things remotely and travel. So is really good balance. But if anyone just stay home for too long, they need to go out and meet people for sure.
Great tips on "not to eat everything into yourself" this is very true. I was like that, i didn't open and share to people. It was tough but i manage to overcome it now by sharing it.
Thank you for the awesome list!
I've been feeling a bit less motivated the last week or so and I think its because i've been exercising less. I'll kick it up a notch from tomorrow and see if it helps me get back on track!
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