Burnout Prevention

A friend asked me recently when I'm going to burnout, "you're always busy and doing so much!" And I mean sure, I get how they could make that assumption. Scroll back through my feed and you'll find a highlight reel of someone who appears to have their shit together. Finished projects. Endless adventures. Ambitious endeavors. Coupled with thoughtful captions that make it sound like I wake up every day inspired and productive.

Behind the Scenes

I do my best to show up authentically in public facing contexts. But what I share is still just a sliver of my existence, the moments I remembered to record, and the posts I had time to write.

When all you see is the finished thing, it's easy to believe everyone else has it all figured out.

What worries me about the highlight reel culture, especially for fellow creatives, is comparison mentality. When all you see is the finished thing - the clean caption, the curated grid, the edited version of someone's process - it's easy to believe everyone else has it all figured out.

Here's what you're not seeing: I started my day doom-scrolling in bed at quarter to 6am. It's now 11am, I'm at my desk, still in yesterday's pajamas, and my one cup of coffee's gone cold. I've been staring at the same draft email since 9am, Roscoe draped across my arms preventing any and all progress. Getting caught in distractions, spinning in my chair and staring at the wall, petting cats, and letting ideas simmer on the back burner.

You miss my low-spoon, seasonal depresh-mode mornings, where I give up entirely and lay face down on the floor (aka Floor Time TM). Leaving everyone I love on read for days. A sad trash can full of grab-and-go snack wrappers, and a browser with 26 tabs open (how modest, I know). The 45-min(!!!) detour watching a live feed of capybaras in hot springs because my brain needed a palette cleanser. And all of the other "what the fuck am I even doing with my life" moments that don't make the feed.

Understanding Burnout

Dear reader, you are not the only one face down on the floor! The truth is bringing ideas to life requires an almost embarrassing amount of sitting around doing nothing. Brené Brown talks about "This Space Intentionally Left Blank" - the necessity of empty space for creativity to breathe, allow for spontaneous inspiration, and to follow whimsy - and I love that framing! If I'm being honest I wish I could say I'm deliberately, mindfully protecting empty space, but the reality is this happens automatically, often out of necessity.

When we don't get the requisite down time, we burnout or get sick.

I've written in previous posts how most humans need at least 3-hours of down time each day, 9-hours of rest at night, and at least one full day off per week. When we don't get the requisite down time, we burnout or get sick.

The Choice is Yours (Sort of)

In my mind, we have two clear options: choose to take the break now even though it's inconvenient, or try to hold off and wait for our body to make the decision for us when it's truly bad timing. Understanding this helps me respond in these moments with more compassion. So, when I catch myself getting lost in distractions in real time, I pause and evaluate.

• Do I need more support for executive functioning right now? Go get support!

• Or did I really need some down time? In which case I do my best to listen to my brain/body and trust the process, guilt free. 

Should you take the break now, even though it's inconvenient? Or hold off and let your body make the decision later, when it's truly bad timing?!

All that said...

Hi. 👋 I'm Rachel. I make things. I also spend an unreasonable amount of time achieving absolutely nothing. And while I do occasionally grapple with the guilt of a misspent afternoon, I'm no longer mired in shame or resentment about low bandwidth days. (It should also be noted that writing THIS blog post is in fact a much needed distraction from working on my taxes.)

What does your 85% look like? How do you forgive yourself for a low spoon day?