Burnout is real, but are you viewing your recharge productively?
On the Calm app there is a daily mindful meditation called The Daily Jay. A recent practice was on burnout. Jay started with a statement regarding batteries and how they recharge. He stated that you have to connect them to a power source to recharge them. You don't leave them laying around doing nothing with them and hoping this give them more charge.
We are the same way.
We need to connect to a power source. We need to recharge with something that gives us energy.
In this mindfulness session Jay shared the story of a woman who was feeling burnout. This woman felt that she needed more rest to recharge so she began napping and resting more. This did not help her feel recharged but rather lethargic. She then began exploring what gives her energy, recharges, and makes her happy. For her it was clearing out the ivy in her yard. This gave her purpose and cleared her mind from what was burning her out.
While a rest feels good, for a while, and if useful, we need to do more than rest.
What recharges you?
The list at the top of this blog gives you some ideas of energy takers and energy givers. It isn't everything. I am sure you have something to add to each list that is specific to you and your life.
For a lot of people in education an energy taker is sound. A quiet car ride home give them energy. Perhaps its children that take energy and you crave adult conversation. Maybe making decisions at school all day takes your energy and you long for someone at home to make the choice of what's for dinner.
This time of year an energy giver for me is my garden. Knowing that as summer progresses I will see the fruits (or vegetables) of my labor. I can then makes my sauces, salsas, and freeze what will keep. This knowledge reenergizes me.
One night this week after dinner dishes were done, Leila and I watered the garden, planted new flowers (pesky rabbits ate our others so this time we planted a kind they hate), and then played her Bluey game. This wasn't more stuff to do and less time for me; it was refreshing and recharging. I felt accomplished with the flowers. I love passing along the garden joy to Leila. It is a love my father has shared with me and I am happy I can share with my daughter. And it is always fun to play a game with my children and see them grow, learn, and have fun.
This week I want you to think about how you can recharge. What power source do you need to plug into?
Have a rest, then figure out what you need to plug into to recharge. Below is a graphic I made to help us take time to list our own ways to recharge. We can also think about where we are at on our battery life. We can ask ourselves how much of an activity we need to get to a charge that helps us feel ready to go.
How can we finish the year fully charged and not running low on battery charge?
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