How Can I Recover From Burnout?

(gentle upbeat music)

- So far we've talked about burnout,

and where that term comes from,

what goes on in our brains to cause it,

how to know if we're burning out.

We even talked about the impact

media has on our mental health.

Stress and its role, sleep and nutrition,

and how important they are in our life.

Relationships, how those can be affected.

And finally, deal with
burnout in the workplace.

Hmph, that's a lot, but now,

we need to move on to
what I think is, honestly,

the most important part,
and that is recovery.

If we think we may be burning out

or have been burnt out for
a really, really long time,

what do we do?

How do we heal?

So let's find out, and as
always, this video series

is an educational project
sponsored by Google.

Aside from making time for exercise,

eating a proper diet, and
getting enough sleep each night,

there are other things we need to consider

and incorporate into our life

to help us recover from burnout.

Some things to consider
are how long of a break

or vacation we need to take

to give our brain the time to heal.

Have you ever come back from a vacation

and felt totally rested?

Or maybe you come back
just as stressed out,

or even more so.

Think about this for a bit.

And also consider the
type of break you need.

Maybe you need to sit around
and do nothing for seven days.

I like that.

Or maybe you like to get
outside, hike or bike.

I also kinda like that.

Or perhaps you prefer to see the world

and experience different cultures.

I know personally, I
love to see the world,

and get outdoors, but I do need some time

to relax and do nothing.

So my perfect break or vacation

needs a little bit of all three.

How about you?

It's also possible you just need

a few breaks within each week.

It doesn't have to be a big
vacation or an adventure.

Maybe you go get a massage

or spend some time with a good friend.

I honestly believe that we all need these.

I know I do, these small breaks

help keep me focused and creating with joy

instead of feeling overworked
and possibly irritated.

Especially if money is
tight, these small breaks

may be more attainable for you.

So consider what small breaks

you could make happen this week.

Next we need to figure out how often

you need small or even larger breaks.

And as a reminder, you
should be taking a break

every 45 minutes of working

so that you can stay
focused throughout your day.

And also, we need to take weekends

or at least some days
each week completely off.

I know it's such a crazy concept,

but if we don't have a couple of days

where we get to do what we want

just because we want to, that reward

that we talked about,
remember, all the way

at the beginning of the series,

that reward will go down.

Because if you remember, burnout is caused

when the reward for what we do

isn't commensurate with the
amount of effort or work

we have to put in.

And in order to heal, we are
going to have to figure out

how much time we personally
need to feel recharged.

It could be a day.

It could be a whole month.

As with most things,
everyone's gonna be different.

For the homework for this week,

I want you to consider what I
talked about in this episode,

taking breaks and figuring out

what type of break you personally need.

What do you like to do in your free time?

What leaves you feeling
relaxed and recharged?

Do you need a short or
possibly a long break?

How often do you need
to take these breaks?

Think about all of these questions

and jot down some of
your thoughts about them.

The more we know about ourselves

and our own healing process,

the better able we will be
to make some positive steps

in a healthy direction.

And also, let's get some comments going.

What are some of your regular

self-care tools or techniques?

Please share those below, because I know

that it can be really
hard to come up with them

on our own sometimes,

so that might spark someone's thoughts.