Avoiding Burnout: Recognizing the Signs
A personal case study on the insidious nature of burnout
Do you know how to recognize the signs of burnout?
In the latest episode of La Vida Más Chévere with guest Karenna Soto, we talked about how recognizing the signs starts with identifying your own capacity for managing your life.
And in the wake of that episode, I’ve had to juggle the symptoms of burnout on my end as well. Last week a nasty reaction to antibiotics triggered my autoimmune disorder again—the one I told you about on the previous episode to that—which laid me out badly. I even missed my niece’s graduation🎓😭
This all forced me to reckon with my own expectations of myself, and reprioritize tasks. For example, the podcast! Will there be a new episode of the show next week? Honestly, I don’t know for sure. If it happens, great. But if it doesn’t, then you know it’s because I had to limit my output based on my current capacity.
So what the hell is this “capacity” we keep referring to?
The Daily Check-In: Your Energy as a Compass
The first step towards managing your energy and preventing burnout is awareness. Karenna emphasized the importance of a daily "check-in” to determine what you are capable of.
That’s your capacity: the amount of energy for that day. Karenna compared it to a battery life.
Did you know that your phone enters low power mode when the battery drops below 20%? That’s because it’s taxed to the near limit and has to cut back on what it can do. It sacrifices certain functionality in order to still work:
When Low Power Mode is on, your iPhone or iPad will last longer before you need to charge it, but some features might take longer to update or complete. Also, some tasks might not work until you turn off Low Power Model.
What do you do when your phone needs a recharge? You plug it back in! That seems like a no-brainer and yet why do we struggle with doing that for ourselves?
Funny aside: as I was typing this out, my laptop battery went into “saver mode” where it dims the screen and warns me that I have a finite amount of time and percentage before I need to plug it back in. The robots tell us what they’re lacking; we might need to be more like them in that respect.
But before we can even determine if we need a recharge, we have to know what each level feels like for ourselves. This is highly individual. What 80% is for me may not be the same as what 80% is for you, and vice versa. You might have more responsibilities so you might get down to 80% faster or slower than me.
It’s not a competition.
This exercise is to simply become aware of what your capacity is each day, as you wake up. Make it a habit to check in and learn what your capacity looks and feels like at 80%, 60%, 50%, 20%, etc. Write it down so you can reference it later.
This isn't about numbers being exact, but rather becoming familiar with how different energy levels feel in your body. Are you brimming (100%) or depleted (30%)? This awareness allows you to disperse your energy throughout the day with intention.
Which is the next step. But first, check in with yourself each morning and find out where your battery life is at.
Prioritization: Not All To-Dos Are Created Equal
Once you're familiar with your daily capacity, then you can start dispersing that energy appropriately.
Getting really clear on priorities is crucial. Not every task deserves the same amount of energy. Learning to differentiate between essential tasks and those that can be delegated, scheduled for a lower-energy day, or even eliminated entirely, is key.
Recently I had the opportunity to turn La Vida Más Chévere into a radio show. Long Beach Public Radio now has it listed under their podcasts, a prelude to becoming an on-air property. Becoming a radio DJ was once my dream job. And yet when it came down to it, I realized there’s no way I could make it work right now.
As a solo indie podcaster, I have limited hours in my day to produce the one show for one outlet. I’ve recently stopped trying to edit the video for YouTube because tapped out!
I do not have the space, time, or energy to re-edit for another medium, which would’ve required adding station info, mixing in music and additional voice overs, plus cutting out expletives for the FCC, just to name a few tasks.
I was very sad to let this opportunity slide away, but it was a matter of prioritization. I had to ask myself: do I keep putting out fresh bi-monthly content for my existing audience, or sacrifice the show quality to explore a more local audience? Not to mention, live my life and all the other responsibilities inherent to myself and my family?
A lot of factors could’ve impacted the landscape in this scenario. If, for example:
I had technical help for producing the radio edits
the show was on hiatus
I was getting paid
My decision would’ve been different. But seeing the options clearly in front of me, it was another no-brainer. Recognizing my depleted battery capacity and prioritizing my current global audience allowed me to gracefully decline this tempting but unsustainable opportunity.
And that was before my recent health scare. If I hadn’t said no then, I’d definitely have to say no now.
What are some tasks on your plate that don’t really belong there? Is there anything worth delegating, or simply removing altogether?
Recalibrating Your Capacity: Creating Space for Self-Care
Burnout often signifies that your energy expenditure has outpaced your capacity for replenishment. Recalibrating your capacity involves creating space for activities that fill your cup. This looks different for everyone, but the key is to identify practices that nourish your specific mind, body, and spirit.
This goes beyond rest, which I’m always harping on you to take. Rest is essential, but it’s also the bare minimum for taking care of yourself.
From experience, I know that there are 2 specific things that take this disease raging inside me like an active roiling volcano down to a nearly-imperceptible simmer:
drugs
intense exercise
Yesterday I finally got the necessary dose of steroids to make the hives calm their tits. Afterwards in a small treat yo’self moment, my husband took me out for sushi to make me feel better. It’s a cuisine we both love with the added benefit of not having to make it ourselves or clean up after. #winning
But the second part is the most important, because I don’t need a doctor’s prescription, so it’s fully under my control: lifting weights!
If you’ve been around for long enough, you know that the gym is my happy place and I haven’t been able to go thanks to a prolonged rehab/moving/rehab cycle. Actually, I was using that as an excuse not to go, because I could train around injuries. I just got lazy.
So this morning, I finally got my ass down to the gym to fight gravity and dominate a barbell. The after effects? My battery capacity somehow jumped up from the 20% I felt yesterday morning to at least 80% today.
Tomorrow I’ll be sore. And I’ll do it all over again!
And now more than ever it’s become clear that I can’t abandon this practice again. This is the 3rd time I’ve had a hive outbreak in 7 years, and each time it’s when I deprioritized exercise for something else.
I won’t be making that mistake again. This is an essential part of my daily self-care, and my body really hates it when I forget that.
So ask yourself: what is the smallest shift that you can make to be able to give back to yourself first? Do you have a similarly long-neglected source of joy and strength you can return to? Or been wanting to try something new but haven’t made time for it?
Part of optimizing your capacity is giving back to yourself first, proactively. So maybe—hopefully—this is the week you make you a priority.
Living in the World As It Is: Give Yourself Permission to Feel Good
Burnout doesn't exist in a vacuum. External demands can exacerbate it. However, the framework outlined above empowers us to make choices that prioritize our well-being. Living in the world as it is doesn't have to mean constant sacrifice. It's about adopting a proactive mindset, making decisions that align with your energy levels and prioritizing activities that nourish you.
Burnout is real, and it can be debilitating. But it's not a life sentence. By becoming aware of your energy levels, prioritizing tasks, and actively creating space for self-love, you can thrive.
I hope my story serves as a reminder that rest breaks woven into the fabric of your schedule allow you to respond to life's demands with a full cup, rather than an empty one. Remember, it's not about pushing through exhaustion; it's about deciding to feel good.
You deserve it. And you don’t need anyone’s permission…except your own.
How to Listen to Just Say No to Burnout
Listen to #65 - Just Say No to Burnout with Karenna Soto on your favorite podcasting app or on Apple:
🎧Listen on Spotify:
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