Unplug and Recharge: When Burnout Fries Your Motivation

Motivation gets replaced by a “why bother?” attitude. Headaches, trouble sleeping, stomach problems, muscle aches, high blood pressure and the whole panoply of stress-related ills increase. The end result looks a lot like depression. The cure is not in a pill but in making choices that allow you to make a living while having a life.

Tips for Revival:

Unplug and take stock. Go away for a few days to a quiet place where you can get some perspective. What’s burning you out? Are you a square peg in a round hole? Customer service, for example, is a bad choice for the conflict-averse. Are you a caregiver who needs respite? Are you a people-pleaser who needs to say “no” to others and “yes” to yourself? Is your lifestyle so expensive that working enough to fund it is killing you?

Purge what’s not necessary. Pareto’s Law states that 20 percent of one’s actions result in 80 percent of hoped-for results. Identify leverage points and energy drains. What serves you, and what wastes your time? When I cut down on radio interviews, reviewing people’s manuscripts and doing favors for just about anyone who asked, I had much more time for what really matters. The fire gave me permission to say “no” without feeling guilty. But you don’t need to wait for an excuse to live your own life.
Play both for the sake of fun itself and because play changes your brain state and supports creative thinking. Work smarter by exercising or playing when you feel stale.
Pay yourself first. Schedule time for self-care, family and friends before filling up your calendar with work demands. Waiting for free time to materialize is the same as deciding to save the money that’s left at the end of the month.
Take a weekly Sabbath. Do absolutely nothing related to work on that day. This is a time-honored strategy for staying sane and enjoying life.
Cultivate beginner’s mind. The late Zen teacher Suzuki Roshi wrote, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.”