Any suggestions to come back from a burnout?
A few months ago I quit my cushy job. I had a burnout. How did I know I had a burnout? I became very disinterested in my work which used to be exciting before but now I couldn't do it. It was very weird, mentally I thought I could do it but physically my body wouldn't reciprocate what my mind wanted. I never felt such a disconnect before. I am much better now, but if someone has gone through this, do let me know your suggestions.
In addition to what @8bit says - focus on what you feel you need, not what others may be pressuring you to do. Often we feel there is only one way, but when you step outside your bubble you can realise there are multiple ways to exist in this world.
Thank you. Yes I agree. That was a big revelation to me. The usual perception is that people have to be in a certain setup to be successful. It did not work for me and I am determined to pave a unique path for myself.
there's a lot of "voices" out there that will tell you you're not doing it "right"... ignore most of those. :P
not all of them.. just most.
Hey @BB_27 hope you're feeling better. I have gone through this in the past, here my 2 cents for you
Just take some time off work: Whatever side project / work related stuff you're doing, please stop. Just take some time off and do literally nothing. No deadlines, no urgency, no deliverable none.
Travel (not now): When covid is over, please take some time to travel a bit.
Avoid technology: Just avoid spending time on phone, laptop or consoles
Start physical and mental exercise: Have a set schedule for physical (running, weights) and mental (meditation) exercise
Please talk to your family and friends and spend time with them. You don't have to even talk about your issues (please do if you feel like!) but just spending time with folks you love doing anything is good.
Hope you feel better man. PM me if I can do something
Thanks, Mukul. Really helpful advice. I have been doing the above and I am starting to feel better. I am getting my creative juices and energy back but it still doesn't feel same as before. I was wondering how much time did it take for you to feel completely normal.
Hey @BB_27 to be completely honest with you, it did take time for me. I initially started cutting out caffeine + sugar last march, went back into bad diet in small periods. However I became more serious about healthy lifestyle around 6 months back and it really helped.
Everyone's mileage would vary but from my experience, you would start seeing changes in 3 weeks. After that, keep compounding those changes and you have a hockey-stick graph :)
good to hear you have taken these steps when you needed to...
I have gone through this as well, but building up over many years.
There are various moments (or periods) when you know something is not going well / feeling well, but something is getting in your head 'just push through, you are not a quitter!' which was hammered into my system and influenced my situation negatively over time. In general I agree that 'just quit when things are not working for you' is not helpful, but taking it too far is also counter productive.
For me an eye opener was to better reflect on what my own values are. What do I really like? Where do I really get energy from? What excites mee, keeps me fired up... (this is not about what pizza topping, or what color shirt you like :-) But more on a core level...
There are certain things in life, in motivations, that drive you. When you are not aware of these fundamentals, you cannot signal enough moments where you make these choices. And when you are drifting away from or doing too many things that are in conflict with these values, it will build up and create conflict. It takes a while before you recognize this for what it is...
When you align these key and fundamtental personal drivers with your actions and your daily behaviours, things work out a lot better. It's very simple as soon as you know it, but before that it's not.
These insights are for your work, your social relations and all other parts of your life.
It's a process and takes time to reflect on an ongoing basis, to sometimes 'course correct' - especially in stressfull periods, you fall back on your 'learned' behaviours. But when you start to understand how this works and why it's important for you, it gets better over time to re-align yourself.
For me it was life changing to understand this process and disconnect from the feeling to do things according to (my interpretation of) outside/external expectations. Start live your life according to your values and morals.
Cheers!
tip: it can bring great insight to work with a tool like strengthfiner or such, there are a few that work well, to better understand the things that you already feel, but don't really 'get' why this is the case.
Thanks Jurrie for your suggestions. I am working on the things you mentioned. It is only after my experience that I learned the importance of living for what you really believe in and how important it is to not care about external expectations. I always kept wondering how others are able to do certain things that I cannot think of putting up with, but in the end, it's just you are what you are and rest doesn't matter.
go slowly. go lightly. get help and find friends. hang out here more with us!
take good care of not heading down the same path as you did before!
//// and...
WELCOME BACK!
🎉
Thank you. I am much better now. I am working as a consultant, so I have more control over my work schedule. I am also giving a lot more time to myself and do things that make me happy and healthy I do more exercise, eat more healthily, sleep more, and spend time with my friends. I have accepted that not I may not be most suited to fast corporate life.
grateful! let's do this!