July 31, 2023 • 25 mins
076. Ever found yourself feeling overwhelmed and depleted of energy, wondering if you're on the brink of burnout? In a time where many of us are juggling multiple tasks and responsibilities, it can be all too easy to lose track of our own well-being.
I've been there...recently... grappling with the aftermath of a particularly busy season that left me feeling drained.
Join me as I revisit that intense period of my life, discussing the pressures that contributed to my burnout and how it manifested for me.
As we go through my narrative of recovery, we'll explore the personal coping mechanisms that helped me regain control of my well-being.
Hear about how simple actions like taking naps and reducing social activities, along with practices like journaling and imposing tech-time limits became instrumental in my recuperation. I hope that my experience inspires you to devise your own strategies when the pressure starts to build.
But it's not just about surviving burnout, it's also about learning to prevent it. So, in closing of the show, I share valuable tips and insights that have worked for me and that come highly recommended.
I also touch upon the 'because I can' syndrome, a common trap that needs careful handling during times of stress and pressure. Mostly I hope that as I reflect on the invaluable lessons learned from my summer 2023 that you feel encouraged to know the importance of recognizing burnout symptoms, how to manage them effectively, and ways you can practice self-care to prevent burnout in your own life.
00:00:01 Intro 00:01:24 Coping Is Personal 00:04:00 I was in a Pressure Cooker 00:07:24 Not Denying It 00:12:00 back off of production 00:14:00 talking to my doctor 00:18:00 on the other side of the worst 00:18:27 Recognize the signs 00:21:00 No Shame in Burnout 00:24:00 Closing
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Marijanel (00:01):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Marijanel show.
It's a little bit differenttoday.
I've changed it up.
I am out here on a beautifulwalk and I brought you on a walk
today with me because walkinghas been part of my recovery
from burnout.
This summer I have had aburnout like I haven't had in a
(00:21):
really long time and I wanted toshare with you about it.
If you've been going through aburnout yourself, if you've been
there before and you're tryingto avoid it, if you know someone
who's going through burnout,then today's episode is more
than likely for you.
So settle in, because I want toshare with you my recent
(00:42):
experience with burnout, whatI've been doing to recover and
what that really looks like formy self-care.
Keeping in mind that burnout isa really personal thing.
It happens to all of us.
None of us are exempt, but theway it affects us is so personal
because each of us are unique.
(01:02):
We have our own personalities,we have our own ways of coping,
we have self-care that'spersonalized to us, and so how
I've had to adapt and recover isnot necessarily how you'll need
to approach burnout if and whenit ever happens to you.
But I think that my sharing ofmy own personal story.
(01:24):
In it you'll find probably justsome encouragement that all of
us we go through this.
We go through this time when wehit the wall, we have no more
fuel, we experience exhaustionand for me, my burnout often
manifests as a mild depression,which is unusual for me to go
(01:47):
through in the summer, becausegenerally I go through that in
about January or February I'vetalked about that on the podcast
before, too where aroundNovember, I'm always taking a
lot of steps to ensure that mywinter is as healthy as possible
, including upping my vitaminsand exercise and getting on a
mindset to get through thewinter blues.
(02:09):
I didn't expect to go throughthe summer blues, which also,
for me, equates to burnout.
The thing is that I saw burnoutcoming and I knew it was
inevitable, because I had anaccumulation of a very busy
season of life and a lot ofcircumstances out of my control.
(02:29):
That happened between the timeof March and June mid-June 2023.
And some of it was amazingstuff it wasn't necessarily bad
stuff that led me to burnout.
Some of it was moments of alifetime that I am so thankful
for, including my son gettingmarried, family coming in from
(02:54):
all over North America to have afamily reunion at the wedding.
It was so incredible.
So leading up to that date, Ihad massive shifts and changes
in almost every realm of my life, including you know the story
where I had to move out of mystudio very quickly, make some
(03:16):
really big business decisions.
I also invested in it, startedyou'll hear our local train
going by here invested in andstarted another business with
our son, and all of that tookincredible amounts of energy.
Not only was I focused on thosethings, but I also have my
(03:38):
regular day job.
I am self-employed, but I haveone particular contract that's
very important to me and takesup the majority of my time, and
it in itself is a lot ofresponsibility.
I help to manage teams andproduction and get the job done.
It requires me meetingdeadlines, which you know is
pressure.
(03:59):
So between March and mid-June Ihad all of those things
accumulating at once like a verywhat do you call it?
Pressure cooker, like apressure cooker on a stove.
It was just getting hotter andhotter and I knew it and there
was nothing I was willing togive up at that point.
I wasn't willing to wait tomove out of the studio until
(04:21):
after the wedding because Ipretty much figured I'd crash
after the wedding.
I wasn't willing to let go ofstarting the business when I
needed to and mentoring our sonat that point because he needed
it.
It was really important.
And I also wasn't willing tolet up on any of the commitments
to my main contract and I wasgoing to pour every single ounce
(04:47):
and fiber of my being into ourson's wedding.
So it was just inevitable.
I didn't have enough energy forall of that but I did it.
I put my everything in.
Everyone around me who knows meand loves me saw me just pour
out it was a great big pouringout of Marijanel Energy.
And you know, when I moved fromthat studio I gave it my
(05:10):
everything.
I even cleaned it and justmoved as fast and furious and
organized as I possibly could.
And then taking on the wedding,it wasn't just handing it over
to a wedding planner, I was verymuch involved.
Actually it was the time of mylife really.
I helped to plan a luncheon andwe had what I call pretzel
(05:33):
towers.
My husband and I built thesetowers that we had a baker bake
us 300 pretzels that hung fromthe pretzel towers for the
luncheon.
It was so much fun, but in itall.
It was a great big pouring ofenergy.
All this you're listening to me, you're like girl, you're crazy
, and yeah, yeah, sometimes I ambecause I put everything in and
(05:57):
then all of that leading up tomy family began to fly in and I
just so dearly wanted to spendtime with everyone and invest in
every single relationship which, as you know, for introverts,
being social and pouring intorelationships, it's precious and
(06:21):
important.
But it's not how we refuel,it's how we pour out.
So at the end of all of March,april, may, june, pouring out in
energy and socially, I was leftmid June just depleted.
I had no words left, I had noenergy left.
(06:41):
I felt like a bit let down thatthe wedding was over and at the
end of it all I was just prettymuch so depleted that I knew it
would take quite a recoveryperiod.
So what did I do about it?
Well, all of us, as I mentioned, are very personal at how we
(07:02):
would deal with burnout.
But the first thing I did and Iwant to say this I feel like
I've handled it as healthy as Icould, and I feel like I've
handled it healthier than othertimes in my life, and one of the
reasons I say that is because,number one, I decided to not
(07:23):
deny it.
I decided to not try to hide thefact I was burned out.
So amongst my inner circle offamily, friends and loved ones,
I've pretty much made anannouncement and said everyone
I'm burned out and I'm going tobe in recovery mode, and I don't
(07:44):
know what that looks like yet,but it probably means saying no
to social things and a lot ofsleep.
And those were the first stepsI took.
I pretty much went to bed andso over the last eight weeks
I've given myself the time andspace to rest and nap whenever I
(08:05):
needed to.
Okay, that's very for .
The only other time in my lifethat I ever remember being in a
habit of napping was when I waspregnant and my youngest just
turned 19 years old.
So you know, maybe I've had theperiodic little rest on the
couch once in a while, but Idon't take naps.
(08:28):
And I found that the only way Icould cope and recover from
this burnout was to get up inthe morning and do what I needed
to do and then, right afterlunch, take a nap.
And even if I didn't fallasleep which a lot of times I
did.
I just laid there and liketried to tune out and rest, and
I also tried to soak up all thegood memories of the time
(08:52):
between March and mid-June whenthe burnout was occurring.
I was in such a go mode andsuch a get it done, like the
executor in me, the one who cando that to-do list I was in full
blast that entire time thatmaybe I didn't relish and soak
in as much as I wished.
(09:13):
So I would take naps and likejust think about all the good
things and the memories andreally just film myself with
gratitude.
There's a few other ways that Ihandled it.
Besides letting myself sleepwhich, by the way, I was
sleeping like sometimes 11 hoursa night, and I'm still doing
that going to bed very early andsleeping, and I let myself do
(09:38):
this I also caught back on allunnecessary social activity,
which for an extrovert wouldn'tbe the way to handle a burnout,
but for an introvert it's prettyimportant, because introverts
refuel alone and I don't mean,you know, that I needed to cut
myself off from my husband orkids or like inner circle, which
(10:02):
sometimes I did.
I needed a long time in thatway too, but more so anything
extra, extra dinners out orbarbecues at the beaches.
I was declining invitations.
I was, I'm sure, disappointingpeople because it's like the
funnest season in our area.
I mean, I actually want to takeyou on a B-roll walk and just
(10:22):
show you where I am and let yousee the beauty.
I live in the Shoe Shop Valleyand it's just of British
Columbia and it's just soincredible here in the summer,
which makes me a little bit sadthat I've been sleeping most of
it away.
But I had to free myself torecover and one of the ways I
had to do that is pretty much tosleep and rest, cut back on
(10:45):
unnecessary social activity.
I have journaled a lot more andhad way more quiet time than I
normally do in a summer, and, ofcourse, you all know that I'm
working on my journalingresources, which is essentially
an online class that I call adiscovery.
It's going to be part ofmarriage and elementary and I
filmed it about four weeks ago.
(11:08):
I got filmed professionally andthe whole project is moving
forward.
But because I had someproduction on the go, I had to
back off of any production thatwas unnecessary, and one of
those things that I deemedunnecessary was weekly podcasts.
It was so hard for me.
(11:28):
But I sat down and reallyconsidered how much energy I
pour into this podcast and it'snot monetized in the sense that
it's not a business product forme or it's not something that I
know.
Many of you generously use thebuy me a coffee link and you'll
often donate to the productionof the podcast, which is so
(11:49):
appreciated.
But when I really roll it outon paper, it isn't something
that I do for my job.
And I had to decide to back offthe podcast production during
burnout and that meant I wentevery other week instead of
every week and you know what.
It made an incredibledifference, I think, sometimes
just like cutting our load inhalf and allowing ourselves the
(12:13):
space to stop the doing and justbeing.
And I said, Marijanel, acceptyou're burnt out, you need to
rest and back off of production.
That's not necessary.
Anything that is extra I had tolet go of.
And, of course, then it took awhile into the burnout, like
(12:36):
first of all I want to say thisthat for me I felt like if I
could almost liken it to ahospital stay where it's like my
first two weeks were incritical care and then it was
like I just needed general careto go to like just the general
ward of self-compassion and care.
(12:57):
And so for the first two weeksI was like flat out pajamas,
sleeping, doing minimal and justletting my brain and body
recover from the amount that Iput out.
And then I began to feel alittle more human again, but I
realized I wasn't totallythrough it.
We can all jeopardize burningout again if we don't fully let
(13:19):
ourselves recover, and so atthat point I entered just like
monitoring mode where I justcarefully watched myself yeah,
you need a nap today.
And then some days I didn't,and then other days I didn't
have it.
I needed to go to bed early andI needed to put my phone away
and have less distractions,minimize my tech, wake up and
(13:42):
set one goal for the day.
Cause I do find that some of mysymptoms when I'm burnt out is
not only, like I mentioned, afeeling depression and sadness
and lack of motivation, but Isometimes just don't finish
things.
It's like it enhances mydistraction, attention issues.
(14:03):
I want to call it ADHD, butI've never been fully diagnosed
and I only see it rise up andcrop up when I'm under intense
stress, like a burnout, and so Ibegan to see myself having
those little issues where Ididn't finish tasks and I'd
(14:23):
leave laundry undone or halfdone, and I just realized that I
needed to bring my mindset backinto focus and give myself
manageable to do is manageabletasks every day.
I also did talk to my doctorand I didn't necessarily need to
bring up the fact I was burnedout, but I talked to the doctor
(14:45):
about my iron levels and alittle bit of lack of energy
because I realized that I thinkthat my burnout was coinciding
with low energy.
My burnout was coinciding withlow iron and interestingly, this
has happened a couple of timesin my life when I'm really busy,
for example, the time that Idescribed from May to mid June
(15:10):
sorry, march to mid June.
I was so busy that I don't payas good of attention to my
dietary needs or nutrition andit can really lead to the lack
of iron, vitamins and all ofthat.
So I really let it slip and Italked to the doctor about
(15:31):
getting some blood work andchecking into some things, which
I think was just a really smartmove.
So I guess one thing that Iwould offer out there to anyone
who thinks they're going throughburnout is to make sure that if
you need medical attention forthe burnout itself or also just
for the fact that it takes sucha toll on your body to make sure
you're reaching out to get thehelp that you need.
(15:54):
And I also tried to give myselfquick wins.
This is an interesting one todescribe, because for all of us
it's gonna seem different.
Quick wins in your life mightlook totally different than in
mine, but part of the burnoutthat I was going through was
that I had a lot of bigdecisions to make and I was
(16:14):
needing to make them rapidly,and yet they were so big.
I also needed time.
We could call it time tooverthink them or just simply
time to think about it.
Either way, I spent some timejournaling and really sorted out
all my decisions that I neededto make and picked the ones that
(16:36):
could be the biggest, quickestwins, get some decisions off my
plate, and that helped a lot.
There were two or three keydecisions that I needed to make
towards the end of burning out,before I realized fully that I
was in burnout mode.
I needed to make some bigdecisions, and when I made them
(16:58):
I felt an incredible amount ofrelief One of the things I'm
gonna be teaching in my upcomingjournaling class Journal
Yourself Whole is how to makedecisions through a process of
journaling.
I think that it is like sotransformational to be able to
sit down with your journal andsort out your decisions and then
(17:19):
choose the biggest, quickestwins that you can give yourself,
because the relief is I think Ijust messed up my mic the
relief is huge, and so that'ssomething that I did for myself
was just gave myself some bigwin decisions and let myself
(17:39):
relish in the relief.
I also read about burnout.
I know it's funny, but I knewright away okay, you hit a wall,
you are so burnout.
Let's study this a little bit.
Let's understand what othersrecommend that you do to get
through it.
So I've shared with you sometips that I've personally used
(18:01):
to help myself recover and I'mnot fully recovered, I've got a
little ways to go, but I'mdefinitely on the other side of
the worst.
I've shared with you some of myown tips, but in the research
and reading, here's some thatI'll just like list off for you
that could help you or somebodyelse that you know going through
burnout, that are reallyimportant to keep in mind.
(18:22):
So when you're burnout and I'lllist them here.
Recognize the signs.
It's really important.
Recognize the signs and acceptit.
Set your boundaries betweenyour work life, your personal
life, your social life.
Learn to say no.
So set your boundaries.
I have other episodes all aboutsetting boundaries.
(18:43):
If you check in the past lineupof YouTube or audio shows,
prioritize your self care.
For all of us that will lookdifferent, but prioritize taking
care of you.
For me at was sleep, thisstress management.
So keep your stress at aminimal and try not to take on
(19:04):
more things that will lead youto stressful situations.
Seek social support, connectingwith your friends and family,
talking through your feelingsFor me that was journaling and I
actually felt like I needed aback off of a lot of social
situations.
But sitting on a patio with afriend was totally fine.
(19:25):
It was over stimulus, it wasloud places that really drained
me and break your tasks intomanageable steps so that you're
not overwhelmed.
Take a little break.
Have a mini vacation orstaycation Although I have to
say that for me that doesn'twork because I find I get a
little bit stressed out aboutvacations, especially like
(19:47):
packing and making sure you haveeverything.
So that isn't something thatreally works for me personally,
but a lot of people do findthemselves like really relaxed,
to take a vacation, seekprofessional help when you need
it.
Make sure that you rememberthat there's professionals out
there waiting to help us,waiting to listen and be there
(20:11):
and practice that selfcompassion.
Try to guess which was thehardest for me?
The self compassion one itreally was.
I wanted to like what my buttand get myself back in gear and
just say get on with it, girl,like it wasn't that bad.
You had the time of your life,you had this amazing wedding,
you had a family and friends anddrinks and food and fun, and
(20:32):
prior to that, I mean, hey, youmade a big change.
Yeah, you moved studios and youstarted a business and you made
a bunch of decisions.
It can't be that bad, right.
Well, the accumulation of thestress was just too much for one
person to handle in such ashort amount of time and it took
a toll and that's okay.
I don't need to be ashamed ofthat.
(20:52):
You don't need to be ashamed ofyour burnout.
I think that's one thing thatwe all especially those of us
who are task orientated peoplewho work really hard we're
self-motivators.
We're just always on the gowhen we experience burnout or
setbacks of any kind.
We get down on ourselves, feelashamed.
(21:14):
Ashamed of it and this timebecause I didn't go into denial
and I pretty much straight upannounced it to everyone I'm in
burnout mode.
I just owned the fact that Ineeded to rest.
I owned the fact I needed tosay no to extra things.
(21:34):
I also have this other littlesyndrome that I call the because
I can syndrome.
I've never talked about it yeton the podcast and I love to
dedicate a whole talk to it.
But I do things because I can.
I'll take on an extra projectbecause I can.
I'll do it.
You know, art because I can, orthis because I can, or I love
(21:58):
to do things because I can.
In fact, I saw on thedocumentary called my Octopus
Teacher that the octopus, themain star of the show, she
walked on the bottom of theocean with her eight legs
because she can, and there'sfootage Like this is real, this
is true, this octopus.
(22:19):
There's film of it in theoctopus, my octopus teacher,
where she's like walking withher eight legs on the bottom of
the ocean and the commentatorsaid simply because she can.
I felt like that's me.
I do things because I can andduring burnout mode I had to go
into very, very strict mindsetthat I'm not allowed to do
(22:42):
anything because I can.
I only do the things that areright in front of me, that are
completely necessary, and thatreally helped me.
After I'm fully recovered, whenI'm on the other side, I will
start doing all the adventuresand wonderful creative things
that I do because I can.
But right now it's necessarywork, and one of those things
(23:07):
that I deemed necessary duringthe burnout that I would
continue doing is developing thementorship programs I've been
working on, including journalyourself whole.
So stay tuned because it's inthe editor's hands right now.
It's getting worked on and I'mgoing.
I'm not even calling it alaunch.
During burnout mode I decidedto call it embarking.
(23:28):
I am embarking on the journeyof having this program.
I'm not launching anythingbecause that speaks of fast,
furious, high pressure type ofactivity and I am taking the
route of peaceful, calculated,intentional activity, such as
embarking on a voyage with you.
(23:48):
So check out all my links below.
You know where to find memarijanel.
com.
I'm working on my mentoringside.
I can't wait to announce whenit's ready.
You can find me on Instagram atmarijanel.
I also have an art account atmarijanelart.
All of the links are down belowand on YouTube, I would love it
if you give me some love withsome like button, subscribe
(24:10):
button, hit the bell you knowall that good stuff.
And then over on audio apps, itreally helps if you leave a
review and a stars and there'salso a link below to support the
show.
If that's of interest to you,to buy me a copy, not a literal
copy.
It supports the show, although,who knows, maybe I will get a
literal copy because in burnoutmode I might as well treat
myself to a coffee.
(24:30):
I really appreciate you allbeing here on my journey and
hearing me out today about thereality of my summer, summer
2023, burnout mode and what it'sbeen like, what I've learned.
Hopefully there's sometakeaways and some encouragement
for you there.
Until next time, keep on in thefull potential, descending the
(25:26):
colors, colors, colors around,the colors, colors, colors
around.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Marijanel show.
It's a little bit differenttoday.
I've changed it up.
I am out here on a beautifulwalk and I brought you on a walk
today with me because walkinghas been part of my recovery
from burnout.
This summer I have had aburnout like I haven't had in a
(00:21):
really long time and I wanted toshare with you about it.
If you've been going through aburnout yourself, if you've been
there before and you're tryingto avoid it, if you know someone
who's going through burnout,then today's episode is more
than likely for you.
So settle in, because I want toshare with you my recent
(00:42):
experience with burnout, whatI've been doing to recover and
what that really looks like formy self-care.
Keeping in mind that burnout isa really personal thing.
It happens to all of us.
None of us are exempt, but theway it affects us is so personal
because each of us are unique.
(01:02):
We have our own personalities,we have our own ways of coping,
we have self-care that'spersonalized to us, and so how
I've had to adapt and recover isnot necessarily how you'll need
to approach burnout if and whenit ever happens to you.
But I think that my sharing ofmy own personal story.
(01:24):
In it you'll find probably justsome encouragement that all of
us we go through this.
We go through this time when wehit the wall, we have no more
fuel, we experience exhaustionand for me, my burnout often
manifests as a mild depression,which is unusual for me to go
(01:47):
through in the summer, becausegenerally I go through that in
about January or February I'vetalked about that on the podcast
before, too where aroundNovember, I'm always taking a
lot of steps to ensure that mywinter is as healthy as possible
, including upping my vitaminsand exercise and getting on a
mindset to get through thewinter blues.
(02:09):
I didn't expect to go throughthe summer blues, which also,
for me, equates to burnout.
The thing is that I saw burnoutcoming and I knew it was
inevitable, because I had anaccumulation of a very busy
season of life and a lot ofcircumstances out of my control.
(02:29):
That happened between the timeof March and June mid-June 2023.
And some of it was amazingstuff it wasn't necessarily bad
stuff that led me to burnout.
Some of it was moments of alifetime that I am so thankful
for, including my son gettingmarried, family coming in from
(02:54):
all over North America to have afamily reunion at the wedding.
It was so incredible.
So leading up to that date, Ihad massive shifts and changes
in almost every realm of my life, including you know the story
where I had to move out of mystudio very quickly, make some
(03:16):
really big business decisions.
I also invested in it, startedyou'll hear our local train
going by here invested in andstarted another business with
our son, and all of that tookincredible amounts of energy.
Not only was I focused on thosethings, but I also have my
(03:38):
regular day job.
I am self-employed, but I haveone particular contract that's
very important to me and takesup the majority of my time, and
it in itself is a lot ofresponsibility.
I help to manage teams andproduction and get the job done.
It requires me meetingdeadlines, which you know is
pressure.
(03:59):
So between March and mid-June Ihad all of those things
accumulating at once like a verywhat do you call it?
Pressure cooker, like apressure cooker on a stove.
It was just getting hotter andhotter and I knew it and there
was nothing I was willing togive up at that point.
I wasn't willing to wait tomove out of the studio until
(04:21):
after the wedding because Ipretty much figured I'd crash
after the wedding.
I wasn't willing to let go ofstarting the business when I
needed to and mentoring our sonat that point because he needed
it.
It was really important.
And I also wasn't willing tolet up on any of the commitments
to my main contract and I wasgoing to pour every single ounce
(04:47):
and fiber of my being into ourson's wedding.
So it was just inevitable.
I didn't have enough energy forall of that but I did it.
I put my everything in.
Everyone around me who knows meand loves me saw me just pour
out it was a great big pouringout of Marijanel Energy.
And you know, when I moved fromthat studio I gave it my
(05:10):
everything.
I even cleaned it and justmoved as fast and furious and
organized as I possibly could.
And then taking on the wedding,it wasn't just handing it over
to a wedding planner, I was verymuch involved.
Actually it was the time of mylife really.
I helped to plan a luncheon andwe had what I call pretzel
(05:33):
towers.
My husband and I built thesetowers that we had a baker bake
us 300 pretzels that hung fromthe pretzel towers for the
luncheon.
It was so much fun, but in itall.
It was a great big pouring ofenergy.
All this you're listening to me, you're like girl, you're crazy
, and yeah, yeah, sometimes I ambecause I put everything in and
(05:57):
then all of that leading up tomy family began to fly in and I
just so dearly wanted to spendtime with everyone and invest in
every single relationship which, as you know, for introverts,
being social and pouring intorelationships, it's precious and
(06:21):
important.
But it's not how we refuel,it's how we pour out.
So at the end of all of March,april, may, june, pouring out in
energy and socially, I was leftmid June just depleted.
I had no words left, I had noenergy left.
(06:41):
I felt like a bit let down thatthe wedding was over and at the
end of it all I was just prettymuch so depleted that I knew it
would take quite a recoveryperiod.
So what did I do about it?
Well, all of us, as I mentioned, are very personal at how we
(07:02):
would deal with burnout.
But the first thing I did and Iwant to say this I feel like
I've handled it as healthy as Icould, and I feel like I've
handled it healthier than othertimes in my life, and one of the
reasons I say that is because,number one, I decided to not
(07:23):
deny it.
I decided to not try to hide thefact I was burned out.
So amongst my inner circle offamily, friends and loved ones,
I've pretty much made anannouncement and said everyone
I'm burned out and I'm going tobe in recovery mode, and I don't
(07:44):
know what that looks like yet,but it probably means saying no
to social things and a lot ofsleep.
And those were the first stepsI took.
I pretty much went to bed andso over the last eight weeks
I've given myself the time andspace to rest and nap whenever I
(08:05):
needed to.
Okay, that's very for .
The only other time in my lifethat I ever remember being in a
habit of napping was when I waspregnant and my youngest just
turned 19 years old.
So you know, maybe I've had theperiodic little rest on the
couch once in a while, but Idon't take naps.
(08:28):
And I found that the only way Icould cope and recover from
this burnout was to get up inthe morning and do what I needed
to do and then, right afterlunch, take a nap.
And even if I didn't fallasleep which a lot of times I
did.
I just laid there and liketried to tune out and rest, and
I also tried to soak up all thegood memories of the time
(08:52):
between March and mid-June whenthe burnout was occurring.
I was in such a go mode andsuch a get it done, like the
executor in me, the one who cando that to-do list I was in full
blast that entire time thatmaybe I didn't relish and soak
in as much as I wished.
(09:13):
So I would take naps and likejust think about all the good
things and the memories andreally just film myself with
gratitude.
There's a few other ways that Ihandled it.
Besides letting myself sleepwhich, by the way, I was
sleeping like sometimes 11 hoursa night, and I'm still doing
that going to bed very early andsleeping, and I let myself do
(09:38):
this I also caught back on allunnecessary social activity,
which for an extrovert wouldn'tbe the way to handle a burnout,
but for an introvert it's prettyimportant, because introverts
refuel alone and I don't mean,you know, that I needed to cut
myself off from my husband orkids or like inner circle, which
(10:02):
sometimes I did.
I needed a long time in thatway too, but more so anything
extra, extra dinners out orbarbecues at the beaches.
I was declining invitations.
I was, I'm sure, disappointingpeople because it's like the
funnest season in our area.
I mean, I actually want to takeyou on a B-roll walk and just
(10:22):
show you where I am and let yousee the beauty.
I live in the Shoe Shop Valleyand it's just of British
Columbia and it's just soincredible here in the summer,
which makes me a little bit sadthat I've been sleeping most of
it away.
But I had to free myself torecover and one of the ways I
had to do that is pretty much tosleep and rest, cut back on
(10:45):
unnecessary social activity.
I have journaled a lot more andhad way more quiet time than I
normally do in a summer, and, ofcourse, you all know that I'm
working on my journalingresources, which is essentially
an online class that I call adiscovery.
It's going to be part ofmarriage and elementary and I
filmed it about four weeks ago.
(11:08):
I got filmed professionally andthe whole project is moving
forward.
But because I had someproduction on the go, I had to
back off of any production thatwas unnecessary, and one of
those things that I deemedunnecessary was weekly podcasts.
It was so hard for me.
(11:28):
But I sat down and reallyconsidered how much energy I
pour into this podcast and it'snot monetized in the sense that
it's not a business product forme or it's not something that I
know.
Many of you generously use thebuy me a coffee link and you'll
often donate to the productionof the podcast, which is so
(11:49):
appreciated.
But when I really roll it outon paper, it isn't something
that I do for my job.
And I had to decide to back offthe podcast production during
burnout and that meant I wentevery other week instead of
every week and you know what.
It made an incredibledifference, I think, sometimes
just like cutting our load inhalf and allowing ourselves the
(12:13):
space to stop the doing and justbeing.
And I said, Marijanel, acceptyou're burnt out, you need to
rest and back off of production.
That's not necessary.
Anything that is extra I had tolet go of.
And, of course, then it took awhile into the burnout, like
(12:36):
first of all I want to say thisthat for me I felt like if I
could almost liken it to ahospital stay where it's like my
first two weeks were incritical care and then it was
like I just needed general careto go to like just the general
ward of self-compassion and care.
(12:57):
And so for the first two weeksI was like flat out pajamas,
sleeping, doing minimal and justletting my brain and body
recover from the amount that Iput out.
And then I began to feel alittle more human again, but I
realized I wasn't totallythrough it.
We can all jeopardize burningout again if we don't fully let
(13:19):
ourselves recover, and so atthat point I entered just like
monitoring mode where I justcarefully watched myself yeah,
you need a nap today.
And then some days I didn't,and then other days I didn't
have it.
I needed to go to bed early andI needed to put my phone away
and have less distractions,minimize my tech, wake up and
(13:42):
set one goal for the day.
Cause I do find that some of mysymptoms when I'm burnt out is
not only, like I mentioned, afeeling depression and sadness
and lack of motivation, but Isometimes just don't finish
things.
It's like it enhances mydistraction, attention issues.
(14:03):
I want to call it ADHD, butI've never been fully diagnosed
and I only see it rise up andcrop up when I'm under intense
stress, like a burnout, and so Ibegan to see myself having
those little issues where Ididn't finish tasks and I'd
(14:23):
leave laundry undone or halfdone, and I just realized that I
needed to bring my mindset backinto focus and give myself
manageable to do is manageabletasks every day.
I also did talk to my doctorand I didn't necessarily need to
bring up the fact I was burnedout, but I talked to the doctor
(14:45):
about my iron levels and alittle bit of lack of energy
because I realized that I thinkthat my burnout was coinciding
with low energy.
My burnout was coinciding withlow iron and interestingly, this
has happened a couple of timesin my life when I'm really busy,
for example, the time that Idescribed from May to mid June
(15:10):
sorry, march to mid June.
I was so busy that I don't payas good of attention to my
dietary needs or nutrition andit can really lead to the lack
of iron, vitamins and all ofthat.
So I really let it slip and Italked to the doctor about
(15:31):
getting some blood work andchecking into some things, which
I think was just a really smartmove.
So I guess one thing that Iwould offer out there to anyone
who thinks they're going throughburnout is to make sure that if
you need medical attention forthe burnout itself or also just
for the fact that it takes sucha toll on your body to make sure
you're reaching out to get thehelp that you need.
(15:54):
And I also tried to give myselfquick wins.
This is an interesting one todescribe, because for all of us
it's gonna seem different.
Quick wins in your life mightlook totally different than in
mine, but part of the burnoutthat I was going through was
that I had a lot of bigdecisions to make and I was
(16:14):
needing to make them rapidly,and yet they were so big.
I also needed time.
We could call it time tooverthink them or just simply
time to think about it.
Either way, I spent some timejournaling and really sorted out
all my decisions that I neededto make and picked the ones that
(16:36):
could be the biggest, quickestwins, get some decisions off my
plate, and that helped a lot.
There were two or three keydecisions that I needed to make
towards the end of burning out,before I realized fully that I
was in burnout mode.
I needed to make some bigdecisions, and when I made them
(16:58):
I felt an incredible amount ofrelief One of the things I'm
gonna be teaching in my upcomingjournaling class Journal
Yourself Whole is how to makedecisions through a process of
journaling.
I think that it is like sotransformational to be able to
sit down with your journal andsort out your decisions and then
(17:19):
choose the biggest, quickestwins that you can give yourself,
because the relief is I think Ijust messed up my mic the
relief is huge, and so that'ssomething that I did for myself
was just gave myself some bigwin decisions and let myself
(17:39):
relish in the relief.
I also read about burnout.
I know it's funny, but I knewright away okay, you hit a wall,
you are so burnout.
Let's study this a little bit.
Let's understand what othersrecommend that you do to get
through it.
So I've shared with you sometips that I've personally used
(18:01):
to help myself recover and I'mnot fully recovered, I've got a
little ways to go, but I'mdefinitely on the other side of
the worst.
I've shared with you some of myown tips, but in the research
and reading, here's some thatI'll just like list off for you
that could help you or somebodyelse that you know going through
burnout, that are reallyimportant to keep in mind.
(18:22):
So when you're burnout and I'lllist them here.
Recognize the signs.
It's really important.
Recognize the signs and acceptit.
Set your boundaries betweenyour work life, your personal
life, your social life.
Learn to say no.
So set your boundaries.
I have other episodes all aboutsetting boundaries.
(18:43):
If you check in the past lineupof YouTube or audio shows,
prioritize your self care.
For all of us that will lookdifferent, but prioritize taking
care of you.
For me at was sleep, thisstress management.
So keep your stress at aminimal and try not to take on
(19:04):
more things that will lead youto stressful situations.
Seek social support, connectingwith your friends and family,
talking through your feelingsFor me that was journaling and I
actually felt like I needed aback off of a lot of social
situations.
But sitting on a patio with afriend was totally fine.
(19:25):
It was over stimulus, it wasloud places that really drained
me and break your tasks intomanageable steps so that you're
not overwhelmed.
Take a little break.
Have a mini vacation orstaycation Although I have to
say that for me that doesn'twork because I find I get a
little bit stressed out aboutvacations, especially like
(19:47):
packing and making sure you haveeverything.
So that isn't something thatreally works for me personally,
but a lot of people do findthemselves like really relaxed,
to take a vacation, seekprofessional help when you need
it.
Make sure that you rememberthat there's professionals out
there waiting to help us,waiting to listen and be there
(20:11):
and practice that selfcompassion.
Try to guess which was thehardest for me?
The self compassion one itreally was.
I wanted to like what my buttand get myself back in gear and
just say get on with it, girl,like it wasn't that bad.
You had the time of your life,you had this amazing wedding,
you had a family and friends anddrinks and food and fun, and
(20:32):
prior to that, I mean, hey, youmade a big change.
Yeah, you moved studios and youstarted a business and you made
a bunch of decisions.
It can't be that bad, right.
Well, the accumulation of thestress was just too much for one
person to handle in such ashort amount of time and it took
a toll and that's okay.
I don't need to be ashamed ofthat.
(20:52):
You don't need to be ashamed ofyour burnout.
I think that's one thing thatwe all especially those of us
who are task orientated peoplewho work really hard we're
self-motivators.
We're just always on the gowhen we experience burnout or
setbacks of any kind.
We get down on ourselves, feelashamed.
(21:14):
Ashamed of it and this timebecause I didn't go into denial
and I pretty much straight upannounced it to everyone I'm in
burnout mode.
I just owned the fact that Ineeded to rest.
I owned the fact I needed tosay no to extra things.
(21:34):
I also have this other littlesyndrome that I call the because
I can syndrome.
I've never talked about it yeton the podcast and I love to
dedicate a whole talk to it.
But I do things because I can.
I'll take on an extra projectbecause I can.
I'll do it.
You know, art because I can, orthis because I can, or I love
(21:58):
to do things because I can.
In fact, I saw on thedocumentary called my Octopus
Teacher that the octopus, themain star of the show, she
walked on the bottom of theocean with her eight legs
because she can, and there'sfootage Like this is real, this
is true, this octopus.
(22:19):
There's film of it in theoctopus, my octopus teacher,
where she's like walking withher eight legs on the bottom of
the ocean and the commentatorsaid simply because she can.
I felt like that's me.
I do things because I can andduring burnout mode I had to go
into very, very strict mindsetthat I'm not allowed to do
(22:42):
anything because I can.
I only do the things that areright in front of me, that are
completely necessary, and thatreally helped me.
After I'm fully recovered, whenI'm on the other side, I will
start doing all the adventuresand wonderful creative things
that I do because I can.
But right now it's necessarywork, and one of those things
(23:07):
that I deemed necessary duringthe burnout that I would
continue doing is developing thementorship programs I've been
working on, including journalyourself whole.
So stay tuned because it's inthe editor's hands right now.
It's getting worked on and I'mgoing.
I'm not even calling it alaunch.
During burnout mode I decidedto call it embarking.
(23:28):
I am embarking on the journeyof having this program.
I'm not launching anythingbecause that speaks of fast,
furious, high pressure type ofactivity and I am taking the
route of peaceful, calculated,intentional activity, such as
embarking on a voyage with you.
(23:48):
So check out all my links below.
You know where to find memarijanel.
com.
I'm working on my mentoringside.
I can't wait to announce whenit's ready.
You can find me on Instagram atmarijanel.
I also have an art account atmarijanelart.
All of the links are down belowand on YouTube, I would love it
if you give me some love withsome like button, subscribe
(24:10):
button, hit the bell you knowall that good stuff.
And then over on audio apps, itreally helps if you leave a
review and a stars and there'salso a link below to support the
show.
If that's of interest to you,to buy me a copy, not a literal
copy.
It supports the show, although,who knows, maybe I will get a
literal copy because in burnoutmode I might as well treat
myself to a coffee.
(24:30):
I really appreciate you allbeing here on my journey and
hearing me out today about thereality of my summer, summer
2023, burnout mode and what it'sbeen like, what I've learned.
Hopefully there's sometakeaways and some encouragement
for you there.
Until next time, keep on in thefull potential, descending the
(25:26):
colors, colors, colors around,the colors, colors, colors
around.
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