What to do when you’re feeling burned out

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling burned out.

To be honest, I think it was building for a while but I ignored it and a couple of Mondays ago, it hit me.

I finally gave in to the fact that I was feeling low, exhausted and lacking any sort of motivation.

I also acknowledged that over the past month or so, my business had slowed down.  And as September arrived, things weren’t picking up in the way I expected.  In fact, as I finished working with some long-term clients, there were no new enquiries to replace them.

Fact: When you’re feeling depleted emotionally and energetically, it will be reflected in all other areas of your life, including your bank balance.

I’d been moving along, everything going just swell and believing that I had the balance right, but really I’d been thinking about my business constantly- making plans, thinking about ‘what’s next?’ and setting myself ever-higher goals.

That’s why I burned out.

And the Universe in it’s infinite wisdom was making me see it.

I even pulled this angel card during my Monday morning meditation. ‘Seeds well planted. A temporary pause in action. Unnecessary worry.’

At first I thought, ‘You have got to be kidding me? I’ve done ALL of this work the past few years and this can still happen to me?’

But I knew I had to listen and to pay attention to the signs to get myself back on track.

And as I know that we all have times like this, I want to share the steps I took to create a shift for myself (actually ‘steps’ implies that I took action, but really it’s more about non-action).

So, here’s my advice for times when you’re feeling burned out:

Give yourself permission to pause and just be – really not easy for me, as I felt a strong urge to ‘do’.  I couldn’t resist taking some action, but mostly I switched off from my business.  Only do what you absolutely HAVE to do. (Hint: this will be much less than you think).

Ask for support – as soon as I realised this wasn’t just going to pass by ignoring it, I talked to those closest to me and let them know what was going on and how I was feeling. Just doing this felt like a huge release and helped me to take some time out, rather than carrying on pretending it was all ‘business as usual’.

I also had an angel card reading with the completely awesome Isobel Gatherer, which affirmed many of the messages that had been coming through to me.  Sometimes you just need to hear the words from someone else.

Trust and know this is happening for a reason – when things are ticking along nicely, we don’t have any real incentive to create change in our lives.  That’s why every now and again, the Universe will send you a curve ball, almost forcing you to reflect and reassess.  See this as a good thing – you’re growing, shifting and up-levelling.

Move into receiving mode – when you burn-out it’s likely that you’ve been over-giving and now it’s time to balance that out by switching into receiving mode. Allow yourself to receive support, love, money (even from unexpected sources), gifts, care and attention. Demonstrate that you’re open to receive, so you can open up the flow again.

Journal about your feelings (and tap) – I’m not the most consistent journal-keeper, but at times like this I know it helps to get it all out of my head and on to paper.  Once I’ve written about how I’m feeling, I use EFT to tap on the emotions that are coming up for me.

Focus on something completely different – I was pretty lucky this last few weeks, as Mr H and I are currently renovating our kitchen. So rather than endlessly thinking about my business, I spent a lot of time painting and being an apprentice to Mr H as he tiled, fitted worktops and plumbed in new taps.  (I usually hate decorating, but I found this SO therapeutic!)

Now, you’re probably not in the midst of major renovations, but you can clean, clear, paint, draw, knit, bake, garden – anything that allows you to be mindful and switch off.

In addition to all of the above, I’ve also given myself a prescription to do the following:

• Go for an hour’s walk every day
• Sleep (as much as I need, which has been a lot)
• Consume uplifting (rather than purely informational) material, such as books, videos and podcasts (my favourites have been Elizabeth Gilbert’s Magic Lessons podcast and any Abraham Hicks videos on YouTube)
• Limit my time on social media

So, that’s what I’ve been doing these past couple of weeks or so and things are starting to turn a corner.

I’ve had new client enquiries and past clients returning to me.

I’ve had a couple of speaking invitations and my local newspaper emailed to ask if I could send them something about a networking event I’m hosting this week so they can cover it.

And I have a new sense of clarity about what to focus on next.

So my message to you, for times when you’re struggling, is hold on, be kind to yourself, know that this will pass and you are always supported.

Much love,

Nicola x