How to avoid burnout this year

I’m gonna be perfectly honest today: as I write this, I feel pretty blah. 

This Ontario January has hardly seen a lick of sunlight. 

It’s been a very busy month, and while I love my work, sometimes the pace can feel gruelling.

Meanwhile, the laundry piles up, as it tends to do. The cat barfed on my office rug. And there are boxes of Christmas stuff sitting in my living room, which I still haven’t gotten around to moving into my storage unit. 

You know how it is, right? (Please tell me you do.)

But I will also tell you this: 

This morning I sat next to my “Happy Lamp” (a broad-spectrum light) with my coffee for a few minutes while planning my day. 

I went to a spin class — and I walked to my class, which meant I also got a few minutes of fresh air on my way. 

I made myself a smoothie. I took a shower. I grabbed a glass of water. And I showed up for my virtual co-writing session with a couple friends (which is how I’m writing this very post.)

I’m sharing these personal details with you because this is a lesson I learned the hard way: 

If we want to do meaningful work, we must take care of ourselves first. 

Creativity, productivity, focus, work that matters… it doesn’t come out of nowhere. If we ignore ourselves and our personal needs—our universally human needs—there is no way we will reach our potential. 

I know this from personal experience. Roughly 12-14 years ago, I was doing the opposite. My standard breakfast was a cup of coffee and anxiety. I was stressed, obsessed with work, terrified of failing. Cortisol and caffeine kept me going. At the end of the day, my agency friends and I would unwind with cheap pitchers of crappy beer at the dive bar across the street. Nope, not a healthy lifestyle.

This story ended how you might guess: with total burnout. After suffering repeated panic attacks, I *finally* quit my job and focused on rebuilding my self from the inside out. Two years passed before I felt fully restored and ready to return to full-time work.

After that, I promised myself: never again. Never again would I throw myself so completely under the bus. 

This is one of the reasons I decided to become a freelancer. I wanted to build a life where I could choose what to prioritize. Where I could put myself, and my health, first. Where I could combine hard yet satisfying work with deep rest and recovery. 

The difference between “old me” and “current me” is night and day. My life in the past decade-plus has been far more fulfilling, joyful, rewarding, and meaningful. 

And that’s not all. I am absolutely, 100% more productive than I ever was in those old burn-out years.  I have learned how to tap into my flow state, to work with deep focus, to prioritize carefully and ruthlessly. 

I get at least 10x more done than I did in the old days. And my work is 10x better, 10x easier, and I’m 10x happier with the result. I’m not joking. The difference is incomparable. 

So, it’s not to say I never feel stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious, that I don’t order pizza on a Monday night because the week has already felt exhausting, or that I never pretend not to notice that the cat barfed on the rug. (Don’t tell my husband that one; we’ll see if he’s reading this.) 

I absolutely do. 

But I’ve also learned that small habits in favour of my own well being can make a big difference. And I’m committed to that. 

If you can relate to this at all, you’ve got to listen to my current podcast episode: How to avoid burnout this year with Katelyn Steven.

Katelyn Steven is an embodiment coach who helps people bring more balance, stability, pleasure, and groundedness into their lives. By helping them better connect with their bodies, and build resources and rituals that support their own needs, Katelyn’s clients finally get off the hamster wheel of overthinking, overworking, and burn out. In the process, they establish more self trust, care, and ease.

Sounds pretty good right? 

In our conversation, we cover: 

• Why more thinking, strategizing, or analysis is not the answer.
• Practical tips on how to make small adjustments to your day so you feel less exhausted, burned out, anxious, depleted, or stuck in analysis-paralysis.
• How to resource yourself before, during, and after difficult or important life events so you can feel less drained (and more awesome.)
• How to make your days a little bit nicer, more enjoyable, and more pleasurable – without overhauling them. 
• How to connect more with your body, and what a daily embodiment practice looks like. 
• Three steps to turn small daily habits into rituals that will leave you feeling restored. 

As a core member of my personal “team” (both as a friend and a coach) Katelyn has helped me to remember to care for myself. 

And that, in her words, “you don’t have to sit like a monk on a mountain to do it.” 

We can continue to make progress towards our goals, challenge ourselves, sometimes work our butts off — AND feel good and enjoy life. 

Have a listen on my website, Apple, Google, Spotify, or Amazon, and let me know what you think. 

Meanwhile, do something nice for yourself today, okay? You deserve it.