Hey Foreign Bodies fam, it seems everyone around me has reached threshold levels of emotional and physical exhaustion in recent weeks. And as I’m typing this, I’m reluctant to point out the obvious triggers; simply referencing them in writing feels overwhelming.
According to this Harvard Business Review piece, when exhaustion is the primary source of burnout, studies show that “re-energizing acts of self-care are the most effective tool for recovery.” But when burnout is due to cynicism, self-care isn’t nearly as effective. Instead, researchers recommend finding ways to regain a sense of connectedness and belonging in your community. Ultimately, however, overcoming burnout is improved by having agency over your lives and decisions—and by having compassion for yourself. Research shows that compassion may significantly reduce burnout, authors Yu Tse Heng and Kira Schabram wrote. Compassion, they added, “is like a muscle: it can be exhausted, but it can also be trained.”
I don’t know if reading that article did much to push me out of this state. I struggle to focus on my self-improvement when the institutions around me continue to do harm. But I’m desperately hoping something good comes from this stagnancy—some necessary reflections or a readjusting of priorities, maybe.
Have you hit a wall, too? When did it happen and how are you moving through the day? Do you have any thoughts about that HBR article? Share in the comments, if you can.'
I spent last summer hiking and submitting fiction. The exercise definitely helped, and the novelty of tracking regular rejections and occasional acceptances on https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/ made it a lot easier to take the slow grinding daily news cycle of long-distance family hospitalizations (*none* of them due to COVID, ironically).
This spring, the simple fact that a local coworking space offered me a free cubicle to help with their re-branding efforts (https://www.transformgso.com/) meant that I got to be out of the house for a while, which has been another rut-breaker. Having cataract surgery also had a shocking effect, making the world clear and colorful again, though I don't recommend that for everyone.
Thanks for sharing, Randall! Love that you're seeing the world in more color. And I'm so sorry to hear about your family.
I need to get back to writing more fiction. It's what I gravitated toward at the start of the pandemic when I had trouble with all the uncertainty ahead. Totally get the need to get out of the house! I've been working in the backyard a lot lately and it's been helping a bit.
I think I hit a wall multiple times throughout the past year and this one. Everything is fine and then, the weight of the world comes crashing down. Add homesickness to the mix, and it just goes downhill from there. I would say in March, I went about most of my days in tears. I feel this immense burnout. I'm tired and I want to take a break from everything. It's hard, though, being in the midst of the pandemic. I recognize I'm not on my own in this, and that's as comforting as it is frustrating. I try to be compassionate with myself and working on this during the month of Ramadan. I take long walks and I read. That's all I can do for now.
Hasheemah, thank you so much for sharing this. I’m sorry you’ve been having such intense and recurring burnout 😞 I feel like I want a break from it all, too, and have noticed I am reliant on new beginnings (in the form of simple things like mornings or Mondays and sometimes new work or surroundings) and having something small to look forward to or peg my mood around does help a little. But it’s cyclical. I hope this holy month gives you more joy- and peace-filled days. ♥️
I spent last summer hiking and submitting fiction. The exercise definitely helped, and the novelty of tracking regular rejections and occasional acceptances on https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/ made it a lot easier to take the slow grinding daily news cycle of long-distance family hospitalizations (*none* of them due to COVID, ironically).
This spring, the simple fact that a local coworking space offered me a free cubicle to help with their re-branding efforts (https://www.transformgso.com/) meant that I got to be out of the house for a while, which has been another rut-breaker. Having cataract surgery also had a shocking effect, making the world clear and colorful again, though I don't recommend that for everyone.
Thanks for sharing, Randall! Love that you're seeing the world in more color. And I'm so sorry to hear about your family.
I need to get back to writing more fiction. It's what I gravitated toward at the start of the pandemic when I had trouble with all the uncertainty ahead. Totally get the need to get out of the house! I've been working in the backyard a lot lately and it's been helping a bit.
I think I hit a wall multiple times throughout the past year and this one. Everything is fine and then, the weight of the world comes crashing down. Add homesickness to the mix, and it just goes downhill from there. I would say in March, I went about most of my days in tears. I feel this immense burnout. I'm tired and I want to take a break from everything. It's hard, though, being in the midst of the pandemic. I recognize I'm not on my own in this, and that's as comforting as it is frustrating. I try to be compassionate with myself and working on this during the month of Ramadan. I take long walks and I read. That's all I can do for now.
Hasheemah, thank you so much for sharing this. I’m sorry you’ve been having such intense and recurring burnout 😞 I feel like I want a break from it all, too, and have noticed I am reliant on new beginnings (in the form of simple things like mornings or Mondays and sometimes new work or surroundings) and having something small to look forward to or peg my mood around does help a little. But it’s cyclical. I hope this holy month gives you more joy- and peace-filled days. ♥️
Thank you Fiza. I appreciate the well wishes & also your comment. I can definitely relate! The cyclical times we’re in!