5 Ways to Beat Burnout
With things “back”, it feels like a busier fall than usual. Have you found yourself asking questions lately like: How do I keep building all these good habits and routines every day, that I know *should* be building? How do I put all these new ideas into my practice, when there's so much to learn and retain!? How do I even keep up with a world that seems to be moving at 100 mph around me?!
Before you pull out all your hair, or throw your clarinet out the window (c'mon you know you've had the urge) know this: you aren't superhuman. Burnout is real, and basically, it's a form of exhaustion caused by constantly feeling swamped. Burnout can happen when you're overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to keep up with life's incessant demands - and sheesh have we all been there! We don't want that for any of you, but, here's the thing: we believe strongly that you can strive and do a lot without getting burnt out!
Here are a few reminders for you to come back to when you feel on the verge of burnout:
- Decrease your demands. There's no such thing as overnight fixes, or instant progress. It takes weeks, months and sometimes years of plugging away at a thing before you see significant improvements made. Create, tweak, iterate, change, persist. Your small steps today will accrue, you'll see! Don't seek instant outcomes by pouring in more effort than is reasonable. What do they say…. slow and steady wins the race!
- Increase your support. Be sure to surround yourself with people, a group, a community that aligns with your goals. Energy flows where your attention goes - ever heard that phrase? When you learn to focus your energy, and when your environment supports your actions, amazing things happen.
- Balance the grind by structuring in fun, physical and creative activities: go dancing with friends, take the bike for a spin, try out new recipes, go to concerts, take a darkroom photography class, volunteer at the local foodbank. The more engaged you are with your world, the richer your stories!
- Reappraise your situation when you find yourself saying “I am stressed.” Instead of saying “This is stressful”, remind yourself this is a chance to learn a new skill, solve a problem, or figure out how to be more efficient. If you're feeling daunted by a new piece of music, reframe it as an opportunity instead of a stressful situation. This shift in mindset is HUGE. You have control over more than you think you do!
- Connect with joy and purpose. Burnout is often felt when we aren't connected with the larger joy or why of what we're doing. If you've been around, you know we talk about this a lot, and it's because when you are aligned with why you're doing something, the likelihood of experiencing things like burnout goes down significantly. So get in there and connect with the JOY of your larger purpose!
We spend a borderline obsessive amount of time thinking about this and other ways to optimize energy, productivity, work and life, and tbh probably always have. Maybe we're both just old souls. Lol.
Seriously, we want you to remember this. While you can try to work non-stop, your brain just isn’t designed for that.
Now, in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you.
Have you ever lost the spark for practicing, or music, and considered moving onto something new? Did you get your mojo back? We'd love to hear your thoughts on this!
With ❤️ ,
Ixi & Tiffany
