Hello, Friday!

I kind of wish I hadn’t mentioned in my last newsletter that my intended day of posting was Tuesday. Because now, it’s almost 3 days past my self-decided deadline and I’m only now getting to my newsletter for this week.

But I guess it does tie in – quite organically, might I add – to my topic for this week. It’s something we have all dealt with, be it in our personal or professional lives. Well, more so professional lives, but you get the idea.

The feeling of burnout is universal. You feel like you’ve hit a wall, there’s no way forward, no motivation, no desire to keep going. You can try, and try, and try some more. But all of it goes in vain.

The End of an Era?

That’s a big statement in my header there, I know. But doesn’t it feel like it? The end of an era?

I am someone who takes a lot of pride in her work ethic. Last week’s edition of #TheMarketersDilemma talking about missed deadlines would have you believe otherwise, but those who have known me a long time know that I take my work very seriously. Maybe a bit too much, at times.

Yet sometimes you reach a sort of crossroad in life where no matter how hard you try, you keep failing to deliver the kind of results you are used to.

What do you do then?

Giving up is, of course, always an option.

(It might benefit me to mention here that I speak sarcasm as a mother tongue; so if you have even the slightest of suspicions that I might be being sarcastic, it’s safe to assume that I am.)

But giving up is the easy way out. And the easy thing to do is, more often than not, not the right thing to do.

So, what is the right thing to do when you feel the heat of a burn out catching up to you? Well…

Take Stock of Your Feelings

Professional life or personal life, one of the most important things to do, in general, is to step back and allow yourself some time to absorb, analyze, and understand how you are feeling. It is critical outside of work; it is critical within the realms of your job.

It sounds so easy, but trust me, giving yourself the time required to truly understand how you’re feeling is one of the hardest things to do. Hell, I was supposed to be dealing with my emotions on Tuesday, and I have let it fester till today.

Time is like Usain Bolt: you wouldn’t know where it went even if it ran right past you.

It might sound absurd, but allocating time to sit down with your own feelings is one of the hardest things to do. We are more inclined to resort to quick fixes like watching the latest Netflix show or over-eating our feelings. The hard thing, and the right thing, to do is to ask yourself the following questions:

1. What exactly is bothering me about this situation?
2. Am I feeling sad or dejected or angry or helpless or frustrated or all of these combined?
3. What is the number one reason for me feeling this way?
4. Is it impacting my personal life?
5. What can I do right now to make my situation better?
6. Who can I talk to about this?
7. Who can help me out manage this better?
8. What are my short-term goals for this?
9. What is my long-term plan to manage this issue?
10. How soon do I see myself stepping out of this mess?

I’m going to stop listing questions. I truly can go on, but there’s a certain kind of beauty of having just 10 questions to answer. I like round figures; sue me!

The Bottomline

There are no other sub headers, nothing else I want to highlight here. Because for the most part, burnouts can be dealt with by understanding what you are going through, the cause behind it, and how it’s making you feel.

Once you have the answers to these questions, you will be able to move on and get back on track. Sure, you can find listicles with tens of things to do to take you out of a burnout (take a break, prioritize tasks, delegate work, etc.), but the truth is that you can only move on from a burnout if you truly understand the underlying cause behind it.

And these questions will help you do just that.

So, the next time you feel a burnout coming your way, you know exactly what to do.

Until next time!