Hey
Happy Thursday!
There are no links in today's email (I know, you're welcome) - I just wanted to talk about burnout and motivation for a bit.
I have talked about motivation, mental health, productivity, and burnout before. Many times. Like an annoyingly lot of times. But there is no quick fix, and nothing that is going to cure you of these issues forever. We are all a work in progress, and the best we can do is to keep trying and figure out what works for us.
I think my burnout happened around the holidays in December of last year. I had just come off a few months of working 7 days a week, really pushing myself hard to get content in the store, do big launches, write exclusive bonuses, get emails out daily, and work on some side projects, and it just became too much.
You guys, I have no concept of moderation. This is a really bad habit of mine, and one that is reflected in every facet of my life. I sprint toward something, do as much as i can, as fast as I can, then am somehow surprised when I can't last as long as the marathoners.
During the first phase of a burnout, I am usually in denial. "I'm just tired". "All I need is motivation". "I need like 10 gallons more coffee".
Eventually, I face the reality of what's going on, and typically use the same methods to fix it. It doesn't happen overnight, but they are tried and true (for me) and I wanted to share them with you.
How I Deal with Burnout
1. I do something creative. This might seem counterintuitive, since the problem is that I'm not getting work done, but I have to find my inspiration. This requires channeling my creativity, which personally I need in order to be motivated to work.
When I am creative in a free way, that has nothing to do with what is expected of me for my business, suddenly I feel inspired to work.. especially when it comes to brainstorming new ideas and writing content. The artistic part of me is fueled by the writer part of me, and vice versa. They work together, but almost never exclusively.
2. I make a list. Yeah, the good ole' fashioned pen and paper type of list. It doesn't start as a to-do list, it's basically just a list of thoughts and ideas. I need to know what is causing a block in my head and where it's coming from.
I start with the first thing that comes to mind. This is usually whatever work I have been putting off or what I am falling behind on. Maybe content for the store, maybe something I need to promote for someone else, maybe work on my website.
What happens is that the first few things lead to a few more things, and suddenly I have written several pages of notes and to-do lists and schedules, and have lots more ideas. THIS is what inspires me and re-ignites my motivation spark.
You need to get that stuff out of your head.
3. I write a letter to the person blocking my flow. This is maybe a little hippy dippy for some people, but as a highly empathic person, my energy, mood, and entire self is easily influenced by other people. If there is someone in my life who is creating too much negative energy, I pick up on that, and have a very hard time re-focusing my attention.
I'm not a confrontational person, and more often than not, they are not aware they are doing it. Instead of confronting them, I like to write a letter to them, but I never send it. Just the action of writing the letter and unloading all your frustration and feelings and anything you wish you could just say to them, is incredibly therapeutic.
*I don't recommend doing this while drunk, or you will 110% send the letter and 120% regret it the next morning.
At the end of the day, you can't force it. While coming out of a burnout phase, I start SLOW. I do just a little bit of work, start with the easy stuff first, and go from there. Over time, you will get back to your normal level of productivity, but if you try to do everything at once, you will find yourself right back where you started.
I hope that helped! It's ok if it didn't :P It just feels like there is so much pressure to be on our game in January, like suddenly everything is supposed to fall into place and we're all going to kick ass, but a lot of us find ourselves kind of stuck around this time of year.
Just let yourself come out of it naturally and don't force it!
