When the Q4 fatigue has starts setting in nicely, you might start noticing people driving and walking a little faster, taking less care in their interactions with others or simply just being rude.
Nothing to worry about though, nearing the end of the year we’re all just exhausted and mainly have our sights set on that finish line of a December break.
For a couple of days this month though, I found myself being EXTREMELY over it, where the thought of even just doing something fun was intolerable.
I literally just wanted to lay on the floor with noise cancelling earphones in and stare up at the ceiling. Not listening to music or anything, just lay in complete silence.
It later hit me that, oh yeah, I’m just experiencing classic symptoms of burnout, and that this always happens around this time of the year.
My burnout behaviours include:
- Being way more dismissive
- A lot less patient with myself and others
- Engaging in destructive or indulgent habits that actually just leave me feeling a lot worse
The other day though, before setting off to the races, Fran and I reluctantly conceded to pause the morning’s momentum to do a quick guided meditation via the Headspace app in an attempt to reframe the day ahead.
At the start of some of these sessions, a guide will shortly discuss a topic for you to consider during your practice.
The topic for this one? Patience 🙄
The message was this:
Sometimes when we start getting impatient, we try to rush or force things to happen in a way that it itself doesn’t want to; we want to get things over-and-done-with as fast as possible so we can just chill. Unfortunately though, it would seem that when we do it this way, the mind (and universe) has a funny way of working in the opposite direction; where the more we try to force it, the more it resists.
Damn it.
The penny finally dropped:
If I want to get through this final push without burning out or burning bridges, I would need to be very attuned to what it is that my mind & body feels it needs, and not try to force things into what I want it to be.
For me this might look like:
- Taking more breaks instead of distracting myself with silly habits during the day
- Some mornings I’ll stay in bed to read a book, or play some video games instead of working out (and be okay with it).
- If a certain task or to-do doesn’t seem to fit into the current day or week, letting it go to a day, week, or month where it feels more comfortable.
For this last part of the year, you’ll need to take extra good of care yourself so you can continue being kind to, and taking care of others who are also exhausted.
Listen carefully to what it is that your mind & body is telling you.
Pace yourself, and trust that whatever you do towards taking care of yourself is usually the right, and most sustainable thing to do.
More writing and resources
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