Why I'm Avoiding Burn Out As Much As Possible & Time Management Lessons
Burnout is something that I’ve experienced so many times and every single time I tell myself that is the last time that it will happen. Inevitably it always happens again and more often than not it’s down to how I’ve managed my time and disregarded my boundaries over anything else. Whether you work for yourself or you work in more of a traditional job setting I think it’s something that we all deal with as there is always so much to do. Lately, I’ve been super busy but for once I’ve managed to avoid the burnout that I would typically face and this is how I’ve done it.
lessons learnt from burnout
Burnout wasn’t something I ever truly experienced until a few years ago and it’s something that I’ve then gone onto deal with a few times a year ever since. The most common symptoms of burnout are;
Complete energy depletion and loss of motivation.
Negative feelings & mental distance towards work.
One of the biggest things that I’ve learnt from burnout is making sure to take time off and schedule in time to do nothing (as in nothing scheduled in, it could be watching tv, reading or knitting). I’m aware that it is quite the luxury but it’s something that I’ve found to be integral to have somewhat of a balance with work and life. That time doesn’t have to be hours, even half an hour to an hour can make such a difference to how I feel mentally.
boundaries
One thing that I’ve struggled to do a lot when it comes to work is to set myself healthy and protective boundaries. And I realise that it might sound like somewhat of a strange thing to even think about but having these things in place has changed my mindset towards work so much. When you work for yourself you don’t have the traditional cut off points in the day like a regular job tends to have and when you’ve got a lot to do it’s very tempting to work for 15 hours a day and that can soon become the norm. The boundaries that are key for me and my workday are;
Not work in bed.
Have a cut off point each day and make sure to take regular and frequent breaks.
Writing a to-do list I can actually do.
Delete any e-mails that are impersonal.
Logging out of my e-mails for the majority of the day and only checking them in the morning and evening.
Not having my phone close by so I can’t aimlessly scroll through stories all day.
Prioritise paid projects and client work whilst still having a healthy balance of free content.
how I’m managing my time at the moment
Time management and morning routines are something that I could talk about forever as I find them so incredibly interesting as everyone has a different way of how they like to start their day. In general, this is how I like to run my day;
6-9am
For a few weeks I tried to switch around my day and start work in the morning and then go to the gym in the afternoon but I found that I had very little motivation to work out and exercise is so important to me and my mental health. So now I’m back to exercising in the morning and that is what makes me happiest and starts my day off the best. It is harder to get the motivation now it’s dark in the mornings but I never, ever regret going and that’s what I have to remind myself of when I’m pressing the snooze button.
9-1pm
Unless it’s pouring it down with rain this is the time that either I or my boyfriend and I walk Josie and Edie and it’s my favourite time of day. My boyfriend works in the afternoon into the night so this is essentially our evening and it works so well for both of our workdays. Being able to get outside every single day (rain-dependent) is something that I feel so incredibly grateful to do be able to do as not only is great for my mental health it’s awesome to be able to appreciate our local area and see the seasons up close and personal. This is also when we have our main meal for the day which again is something that works much better for us as my body prefers its main meal earlier as I find if I eat a lot later on it causes a few issues.
1-5pm
This is when I settle down into work and naturally it changes day to day with what I do. Especially now we’re getting in the colder months this is when I make sure to do my photography work whilst I still have the light as that can become tricky in the colder months. If I don’t have any photographs to take then this is when I get the majority of my writing done for any posts I have in the works and of course, e-mails are always on the to-do list.
5-9pm
If I’ve had photographs to take then I tend to edit in the evening as it doesn’t matter what time of day I edit and I also like to have time away from what I’ve been shooting to refresh my mind a little as I once I’ve stared at something for too long then I tend to end up hating it. If I’m not editing then I will always proofread any posts, brainstorm any more content and finally go through any admin that needs doing. I don’t always work until 9pm but in general, that’s the time I switch off and because I have my ‘evening’ in the morning I’m totally fine with that and it’s just what works best for me right now.
