A few words about burnout…
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Burnout has become something of a buzzword of late, but if you find yourself tempted to skip reading this, I challenge you not to. The truth is, buzzword or not, burnout is a real thing that we are all at risk of experiencing.
I want to write about burnout in the most helpful way possible. I want to share the reasons it happens, the warning signs, and, most importantly, the strategies that YOU can use to keep balance and avoid it.
But.
Today, I can’t. Every time I sit down to write, my mind goes blank. I write maybe 50 words a day, and when I started to frame out the BIG burnout post, I wound up walking away from it for three days.
You see, 2020 has gotten the best of me, creatively. In this space, I have written at least one post a week for fourteen months, plus newsletters, marketing, and social media. I transitioned to remote learning as a teacher and real-life teacher to my son. I navigated the roller coaster and heartache of quarantine and everything else that has come our way in the news in the past four months. Plus, I wrapped up my second year of grad school and wrote a chapter for a book that came out last week. And in the midst of that, I burnt myself out.
I can’t write a long post right now, full of tips and teachings about personal finance or intentional living. But I can share this important lesson.
Sometimes we can get so focused on a goal, that we lose sight of the present moment. We forget to enjoy the journey.
If your goal is to be debt-free, and you are hyper-focused on that, I applaud you. I encourage everyone to run as fast as you can to get out of debt.
But. If you are working seven days a week trying to add extra pennies to your snowball, focusing every ounce of your energy on that goal, you run the risk of burning out. Getting sick. Losing all focus.
My advice is to make sure you have balance. Give yourself a rest day in your training. Build something joyful into your budget. Set yourself up with some wiggle room so you can be spontaneous once in a while. Make reasonable goals for yourself. And give yourself grace when you need to press pause.
Related: B is for Balance
I haven’t yet recovered fully. I know, because it took me three days to write these 400 words. But I’m getting there. I hope to be back next week with a post FULL of answers to your money questions. Today I’m glad I got to hit ‘New Post’ and reach out to you all who read.
