Burnout and Balance: Knowing your limits
Ever have those moments when you’re just babbling from burnout? Or worse yet, when you’ve lost your happy feeling and start to lose patience? In my case I can’t always recognize it when I’m in it, because I’m too steeped in feeling out of sorts. I am so fuzzy when everyone else seems fine. I just got frustrated about a spreadsheet. What is wrong with me? The real question is, have I reached my limit and is it time to recharge?
Start with a full tank. Get enough sleep. Eat well balanced meals and snacks. Get some exercise. Intellectually I know this is true. But then life kicks in and I wake up in the middle of the night with a sick kid or just because I’m the worst sleeper. Then it’s morning and I rush out the door because I’m late and I’ve barely sipped my coffee let alone eaten breakfast. The caffeine headache ensues, and then all day is spent trying to pretend my eyes don’t hurt. What I’ve learned is to try to find ways to refuel. Sometimes a 5 minute meditation helps, and making sure to sit and relax while I have lunch. What I absolutely recommend (which I’m terrible at) is to avoid sharing with people how little sleep you have had, particularly if you’re like me and you’re a chronic sleep debtor. I’d rather be known as the person who enthusiastically likes coffee before noon than the person who complains about being exhausted.
Take renewal breaks. Get up from your desk and walk around. Or put on your headphones and reset while you work if that’s your thing. Go to the gym. Take vacation days. Go home at a reasonable hour. Read a book. Listen to a podcast. Binge on Netflix while you chill. The point is, you can only work at peak performance consistently if you give yourself time every day, weekend, and month to live and do things you love. Stay-at-home moms might need time with friends kids-free. Working moms might need time away from work with family. Set limits, encourage others to set limits, and celebrate them.
When you go off the rails, be human. I had 2 recent experiences when I was at the end of a very long day, heads down, almost done with a pretty long task, and then had to figure out some unexpected steps. I was super frustrated, and where normally I’m generally pretty cheery, in this case I was just done. The next day I thought about the team and my frustration, and felt terrible. I immediately tracked people down and apologized. Then I reflected on what happened. Why when I’m pretty upbeat did I lose my happy? What I realized is I pushed myself past my limit, and I was just fried. In each case it happened at the end of a very long day where I hadn’t stopped for a minute. My advice to myself is to be human, not a robot. I’m a funny, creative, quirky and loving human. I am a terrible robot so I should stop trying to be one.
Go forth and be kind to yourself. Create a culture of people being their best human selves by encouraging them to recharge. Speaking of.... it’s the end of a long fun week. I’m kinda fried right now, so I’m taking my own advice and renewing!
