How to Prevent Burnout Before It's Too Late

5 Easy Practices to Refill Your Tank Before it's Empty

AuthorAuthor

Anna Seirian & MJ Mayes
May 10, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Many of us think about restful and restorative practices as something we only take up when life gets hectic and we desperately need it — like taking Advil only when the headache gets that bad. Of course, we can also take it at the first sign of pain instead of waiting for the headache to get worse. Or if these headaches are happening a lot, we may try getting out in front of the pain by taking a vitamin like Magnesium, drinking more water during the day, and going to bed a little earlier.

Reframing restorative practices as proactive “vitamins” can help untangle the shame that often accompanies the act of slowing down before it becomes a dire situation.

We wouldn't wait until we are already sick to start taking vitamins, so we don't need to wait until we are in crisis mode to start engaging in restorative activities. By reframing these restful and restorative activities as vitamins, we can shift our mindset to prioritize them as an essential part of our overall well-being, and think of them less as an inconvenience to our schedule.

HERE ARE 5 ACTIVITIES WE FREQUENTLY USE AS VITAMINS:

🧠 BRAIN DUMP
Grab a blank sheet of paper, your Notes app, or a blank Notion page and LET IT OUT. Don't limit what wants to come out (action items, ideas, household to-dos, feelings, doodles, etc), because nobody has to see it but you. Sometimes it feels like your brain is swimming with Post-it notes, and this process is like pulling them out of your brain and putting them up on the wall. There's no need to prioritize, schedule, plan, or take action on anything right now — just get it out of your head, because your brain isn't designed to be a storage bin.

🛋️ RESET YOUR SPACE
Don't underestimate the power that your physical environment may have on you — a ton of clutter can make it really hard to get started on things. Pick one surface or corner that would feel very satisfying to have cleared. No need to get lost in the rabbit hole of a doom closet; lower the bar so you can catch yourself doing something right! We know this can be a really hard step when you're feeling overwhelmed, so make an event out of it — light some incense, grab your favorite chores podcast, set a timer for 15 minutes, and see how you feel by the end.

📥 SORT YOUR INBOX
One of the smallest ways to feel like you're slightly more in control is to clear the low hanging fruit in your inbox. Similar to houseplants and dishes, our inboxes have a funny way of reflecting our mental states back to us. Doing a sweep of your email to simply assess where each one belongs (like in the trash, archive, or to-do list) without actually responding to any of them is a low-effort way of resetting your digital space.

⏰ 1-HOUR SPRINT
Identify the task or project that is causing you the most overwhelm, then dedicate a single hour to only that thing. If you need some help with this one, we get it! We literally started this entire business because we struggle with it too. After years of trying to solve this problem, we can report that there are 3 things that help us sit down with the things we're avoiding: monotasking, flow state, and body-doubling.

So if you've “tried everything” but have yet to try this, bring your difficult to-dos to one of our 1-hour deep work sessions.

☁️ 10 MINUTE LOW-STIMULATION ACTIVITY
Stress and overwhelm can have you living more in your head than in your body, so the goal here is to find something that helps you remember that there's a body connected to your brain. It can be a phone-free walk around the block where you count all the dogs you see, coloring in a coloring book, or just sit outside and stare at the clouds. If meditation is your thing, 10 minutes of focusing on your breath can totally turn your day around. To paraphrase the Dalai Lama: Everyone should meditate for 10 minutes a day, unless you're really busy — then you should meditate for 20.

Even though we’re recommending prioritizing restful and restorative practices before you desperately need them, sometimes you find yourself slumped over on the couch after 2 weeks of going way too hard. Don’t bully yourself about it. The practices above can also be used as painkillers, so come back and revisit this menu whenever you need it.

👋 THANKS FOR READING

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