Burnout chronicles

Hey Friends!

I haven't posted a lot lately here, since the last few months of 2023 have been quite challenging. In November I realized I was completely burned out and I had to take some time off from work to look after myself. In truth I have been feeling this way for a very long time, but I have kept pushing through, working hard and taking extra tasks at work; avoiding listening to the signs that my body was sending me. Until at one point, I couldn't function anymore. I was constantly tired, no matter how much rest I would get.  At the same time, I struggled to sleep (because I was constantly worrying about work) which inevitably fed the vicious circle of tiredness. I was also getting easily emotional and super-anxious for any small thing that I felt I couldn't control at work.

During this time I was reading an amazing book "The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness" by Maureen Murdock. This book describes a contemporary woman's search for wholeness in a society in which she has been defined according to patriarchal and capitalist values. In the book, Maureen Murdock explains that for too long women have pushed themselves to fit in this society, becoming a higher achiever, moving non-stop from one goal to another. This inevitably led them to lose the connection with their body and their intuition. So, one of the first steps for the "heroine" is to realize that her worth is not linked with her results or accomplishments, realizing that she is able to say "no" to her superwoman standards. When a woman can find the courage to be limited and to realize that she is enough exactly the way she is, then she discovers one of the true treasures of the heroine’s journey. She can say “I’m not all things and I’m enough.” She becomes real, open, vulnerable and receptive to a true spiritual awakening.

It was indeed, thanks to this book that I realized how much I have been neglecting my body and wellbeing for a very long time because I didn-t want to appear "less" than others. So I took the courage to discuss the matter with my GP, who advised me to take some time off from work and rest. At the beginning, I was feeling so guilty, thinking I was creating a lot of troubles for everyone at work or that I have been selfish because I needed to take some time to take care of myself and I should keep going no matter what. But deep down, I knew that if I would do something, this would have had a serious repercussions on my health. So, I took the courage and I talked openly with my Manager about how I have been for a long time. I felt very grateful that I did it, because after that I received (and I'm still receiving) a lot of the support from my Manager and my workplace. As most of you all probably know it takes quite some time to fully recover from burnout, so now that I'm back to work, I try as much as I can to take things slowly and keep taking care of myself.

However I feel that I learned a very important lesson from this situation:

1. It's ok to be flexible with your clients but not at the cost of your health - in fact before, I would go extra mile to accommodate my clients, even though this would mean have to triple my amount of work;

2. You need to work in a smart way rather than work harder;
3. Your worth is not related to how much you can achieve or perform - this is, in fact, an idea that it has been instilled on us by our society - you are so much more than that!

4. One of the most revolutionary act nowadays is start to treat yourself with kindness and compassion and honoring your body - which means developing a daily practice around self-care
5. You need to be at your best to functioning and deliver a good practice to your clients
6. You're not weak if you have burnout - the problem it's actually this society, which always requests more and more to us, treating us like machine more than humans

I also realized that as a HSP I am more prone to burnout than an average person. Immagine your nervous system like a big jug, and the stimuli that you process are glasses of water. An average person tends to pour 10 glasses of water per day in their jug. A HSP instead will pour like 100 glasses of water per day; because our nervous system tends to process the stimuli around us more deeply. Therefore, here is the importance of developing a daily self-care practice.

I hope this post can be helpful for anyone out there who is currently struggling with burnout. My advice is, not to wait until the last minute to reach out for help, you are important and your health is important too!

So please, take good care of yourself.

Sending you all the love,