Bounce Back from Burnout
Hustle Culture. One of the most prominent fads influencing Millennial and Gen Z lifestyles is hustle culture. This trend romanticizes the thought of continuously working and needing something to do at all times. While it is important to keep yourself busy, it is also so important to take a break. I personally struggle with not knowing when to stop and trying to find ways to fit more of my to-do list into my Google Calendar. We've all romanticized being busy to the point where it feels shameful or embarrassing to not have a project to do or an errand to run. Sometimes, it seems too quiet to be still.
While many companies have developed incredible employee support programs in the past decade, many workers cannot switch off the daily grind and inevitably begin to experience to burnout. Many of the big tech companies started this movement off and it has become a wider practice since. One of the biggest tech companies in the world, Meta, gives its employees a full month off of work to take anytime to recharge their ambitions after they have worked at the company for five years and then every five years after that.
As university students, it is harder to maintain a balanced lifestyle, with juggling classes, homework, work, and a social life - it is much more difficult to create an equilibrium. There are a few ways to protect yourself from burning out. Setting workplace boundaries is a big one. If you are supposed to be working a certain set of hours, do not continuously agree to work overtime every time. When you make a workday longer for yourself, you have less time to detach from work and focus on your personal and social life. Having a professional and personal separation is critical and making sure your workplace respects these boundaries is a good way of ensuring they care about your well-being also.
But why is acknowledging burnout and making some time to do nothing so important? It is because we need to have that time to calm our mind, let our parasympathetic system reduce its responses and in turn, and let our sympathetic system function at a higher capacity. Burnout happens even when you can’t feel it and it’s definitely harder to diagnose . These still moments can benefit us by reducing our stress and helping us refocus ourselves. By being in a state of stillness, you have more brain power to allow yourself to focus on one thing and center yourself. Personally, my mind is always going one hundred words per second and I am thinking of all the school assignments I have, work I have to do for student groups, my job, or even how to relax without actually relaxing. Relaxation isn’t just about giving yourself a break, it is also about giving your brain the time to slow down and lower your stress levels. Many studies show that stress induced injuries and illnesses are becoming more common, and one of the main factors that lead to those injuries escalating is not recognizing and treating burnout as soon as possible.
With life becoming more hectic in the coming months and all the tasks that will be taking up your to-do list, it inevitably will be a lot harder to make that time for yourself and not push yourself to your breaking point. As a reminder - you come first! Here’s some ideas on how to keep yourself busy but not stressed.
Listen to white or brown noise
I am a rain person through and through. The sound of raindrops against the window does something to calm me down and cheer me up. In the same way, I know white noise is a staple in many people's lives. While white noise often tends to be used as a focusing element during a project or task, I think that it can also be used to give yourself a few moments to relax and immerse yourself in nature. Brown noise is something that I was very recently introduced to. It isn’t too different from white noise, however, it is softer and has less energy which gives you just the right amount of frequency for concentration. It has sounds like the wind, a soft breeze, or quiet waves in an ocean - perfect for finding a stillness to centre yourself.
Declutter
Having a cluttered space for yourself is only going to make your nerves that much more anxious and make you feel more stressed and nervous. Start by putting away small things or cleaning a small section around you. Even for the short amount of time that your space is clean, you’ll immediately feel a weight lifted off your shoulder.
Work on your FOMO
It is so important to not feel guilty about canceling plans or sitting out of group events. FOMO is real and by pushing yourself to do everything that you are invited to, you are pushing precious time for yourself away. . Going out is d a good way to destress and take your mind off of other points of pressure in your life; however, attending events just because you don’t want to miss out can quickly turn unhealthy. There are different ways to avoid FOMO, such as limiting yourself but not restricting yourself. This example could be limiting yourself to one event per week but not restricting yourself if you want to go out. And, FOMO is not just in social events, it can also be fear of missing out on a new dessert place because you’re trying to be healthier, or missing out on buying new clothes that fit current fashion trends because you want to stick to your budget. This is where limiting, not restricting comes into effect - limit the dessert to a smaller portion but don’t restrict yourself to having none, or limit yourself to one new shirt that you really like instead of restricting yourself and buying nothing. Having that balance in all aspects of your life makes making these decisions much easier.
Self Reflection
Practicing self reflection isn’t just about finding your goals and building new skill sets, it is also realizing what is working for you and what isn’t. Maybe one of your goals was to cook all your meals but you were unable to accomplish that. . When you realize this isn’t working for you, find ways that you can resolve the issue while still keeping your goal. A solution to this example would be meal prepping for a week or a few days ahead of time or if you love making fresh meals - time block your schedule so you have that time to distance from your more stressful problems and focus on making your meal in a more peaceful atmosphere. This also gives you that space to take a break and relax. Each time you self reflect on what new habits you’re adapting to, you can improve and work on them to make them work better for you.
There is a lot of talk about burnout and how it pertains to us as individuals. There are so many different places telling you how to push yourself out of burnout, but what I’ve taken away from writing this blog is how important it is to make time for yourself - not just to relax, but to recenter yourself and find your purpose over again when you feel like you’re losing it.