(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.