let’s talk about burnout…
Previously Published on September 17, 2020 at 10:10AM:
Be prepared because this is long and I have a couple of important things to say.
First off, I hope that you’ve been staying healthy and as well as possible over this last month.
Are you ready to take on the rest of September?
I will fully admit to not feeling ready to kick ass for the rest of the month. In fact, I feel lazy and discontent. I want to hibernate and survive on eating and sleeping.
Let's jump back in time a few weeks and I'll explain.
In the last few weeks of August into September, I was focused on recovering from my very first ever surgery (don't worry, I'm just fine). And between lots of bleeding, vomiting, pain, and taking a worrying amount of pain pills to ease said pain, after two weeks I was ready to get back to work. I was ready to go back full swing into my YouTube videos, and somehow, plan a vacation that was ACTUALLY about vacationing.
Now that I am back at work and creating content, I still feel gross...
I've noticed how irritable I am to others and to myself. I have been eating more and sleeping less, or sleeping more and eating less. At work, our change in priorities for projects and their deadlines have left me incredibly stressed, and not looking forward to logging on for the day. And the minute I leave from work, I attempt to make a video, look at my study plan and fall asleep at my desk, or veg out on Netflix because I have a list of shows I'm still slowly going through.
I am burnt out. Like, majorly burnt out according to my therapist.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Have you been feeling overwhelmed about all the information out there on how to code, or how to make projects by yourself, or tackling code challenges or stay motivated with the resources you already have?
And now you wanna avoid it? Or stay comfortable and just take more classes? Or do one task, instead of your whole To-Do List and celebrate by having wine at 10 am on a Sunday (I am currently doing...)?
With the help of my coach and my therapist, I've realized I have to give myself permission to feel good, build the moment I need to succeed at work, and not think about what people need or want to hear from my content. And this goes the same for you, too! It's okay to feel stressed. What's not okay, is not taking action to reduce it.
Here are some things I'm doing to recover from burning out, that may help you too.
I take more breaks, more often.
Take a week off from coding a project, or studying. Or a weekend if that's more realistic for you. Over the labor day weekend, I took a staycation and stayed at this gorgeious Airbnb. I sat around, ate good food, played lots of video games and slept.
That's it.
And for the time I dedicate to working over the week, I give myself Saturdays to do absolutely nothing. If I want to drink wine and watch Marvel movies all day (guilty), I do it. Don't focus on what you feel you should be doing to code or to learn during these breaks. Instead, focus that energy on my next tip:
Focus on things that make you happy.
Do you like to bake? Do you like playing Minecraft for hours? Taking your kids to the park? Reading a book? Painting?
During those intended breaks, the focus should be on doing something that you love, or that inspires you to be happy. And if coding is the sort of thing that you like doing on your off time and makes you happy, try learning a new language by playing a game. Or experimenting with an open-source project.
For me, my time consists of reading, playing video games, and taking long walks in my neighborhood.
Your health is a priority.
When I get stressed the first thing I throw out the window is my morning routine. That consistent time between 5:30-8:00 am is critical for me getting focused calm, and ready to flow with the day.
Make sure you drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest, and if it's not too much, get in some exercises for 30 mins a day (specifically the beginning of your day). Working out in the mornings is not my favorite thing to do, but afterward, I feel clear-headed. Keep up the healthy habits you commit to, even when things get hard. Because it helps distract you from your stress!
Boundaries.
If you can say no to focusing on a task you don't like. Do it.
You are not a bad person for having boundaries and saying no, just a healthier and happier one.
I realize now that I don't exclusively want to talk about tech in my content, and especially on my YouTube channel. So to counteract what I feel a should do, rather than focus on what I want to do for my content, I gave myself three rules to live by making content:
Don't talk about stuff I don't wanna talk about - If I don't feel like talking about burnout or stress or answer someone's tech question in a video or an email or a tweet, then I won't.
Don't turn on the camera if I don't feel inspired or happy - because the quality of my work goes down when I'm frustrated and try to power through. And personally, if I think I look fake happy in a video, I will tape the whole thing all over again, It's a waste of time.
Focus on how I want to feel when making content - as much as I value everyone's opinion and questions from my survey, if it's not something that speaks to me as a video or piece of content that week, I may talk about it in am email, or a twitter post instead or not until I'm ready. If it feels right, then I'll talk about it.
I hope this email provides you some perspective on your stressors.
Remember that I am always around to answer your questions in the content I make.
As I go forward, I want to put more effort into helping you and so many others who have joined my email list.
Be awesome.
