Gonzalo Gandia @GonzaloGandia How do you know when you’re burned out? how do you diff between burnout vs just tired?
ANSWER:
You’re burnt out just by asking the question.
I was just burnt out. About ten minutes ago. I had been working 90 minutes on this post. 90 minutes is my limit before mini-burnout. Then I can’t sit at a computer anymore. I took a walk outside for about ten minutes. I read a short story/essay from Michael Chabon’s “Manhood for Amateurs”. I peeked in on my kids who still seem to be sleeping at 10:30am. They are probably dead. I didn’t check that.
So after 90 minutes take a break from the little burnout.
But I think you are asking about the BIG BURNOUT.
When I was a little kid I put my hand on a barbecue. I still have a little bit of a scar left. It hurt! My body told me, “NEVER do that again.” BAD!
Burnout is the same thing, but its happening internally and not on your physical body (although it ultimately effects everything: blood, stress, brain, etc).
Essentially, your mind is telling you you are touching the fire.
So you need to pull away. You need to shake things up. You need to do something different.
It doesn’t mean quit your job or get a divorce (although it might). It just means you have to shake things up.
Picture what you want to do right now if you can do anything. ANYTHING. Except…try to be a little realistic and common sense. Do you really want to be having sex with Kim Kardashian. Probably not. Too stressful. You’d have to spend a lot of money on gifts. So think it through a little.
But what do you want to be doing right now? Make a list. For me, I want to make a super hero comic. I want to do some videos. I want to write a novel. I want some of the investments I made five years ago to come through for me. I want to make some software that will coincide with my beliefs on what I call the daily practice (check out tdp.me although it’s not released yet).
I’m burnt out also. I’ve written about 400 blog posts. There’s only so much blood I have inside me to bleed with. I have to figure out new ways to shake things up a bit.
I know I’m burnt out because I can feel it. It’s very clear. You never NOT know. It’s your hand on the fire. So just by asking the question I know you are burnt out.
Shake things up. Make a list of everything you ever wanted to do. Everything you want right now. And start doing it. Shake every day.