Alchemizing Burn Out

Oh yes.

I hit the wall last week. The one I've been so careful to avoid, and I landed smack on the front steps of Burn Out.

I've been tired. Like dog fucking tired, dragging my ass every day, losing my spark, and dreading my routines. I'd noted the first thing that slipped- my skincare routine- and opted for buying makeup wipes as a temporary crutch, but I knew when I picked them up that something was amiss... I just didn't fully recognize what it was that was making washing my damn face every night so hard for me.

Next was Insomnia. Really this should have been the first sign because I fell back into only getting 5/6 hours on average really quickly, and effortlessly. But after spending so much of my life on little sleep and staying up all night, it's NOTHING for me to fall back into it. And fall I did. Hard. I started casually tracking my sleep cycles and discovered that I was barely clocking 4-6 hours on average every night.

Couple that with the 10 hours I work every day, 12 if you include GRWM time, plus client work, social media posting and campaigns, my own personal fitness routines, meal prepping, family and trying to stay present in my marriage....

Of course I'm teetering on a cliffs edge here.

This is all without mentioning the timelines I have in place for some very specific and very large goals involving building my house and living on my property by the end of summer, with little in savings, a mediocre credit score and a car that needs repairs.

Its fine. Everything's fine.

So obviously I'm required to scale back a bit and scrape some of the shit off my plate. Womp womp.

So How Do You Fix Burn Out

We cut back on the most exhaustive things we can control. Focus on the "parts we can control," bit because sometimes we are just in-the-shit and the only way out is through and we simply cannot remove all stressors.

1. Make a List of Control

   Look at your schedule. Look at your routines and be really honest about your daily habits lately. What is exhaustive that you can tweak? Are you hitting heavy workouts 4-5 days a week? Scale it back to 3 and change in some walks for those weights. Is your nighttime routine dragging you down? Shorten it up a bit so you can actually relax into it.

2. Adapt What You Can't Control

   Work schedules, Classes, and Events often cannot be altered, so instead let's adapt to make them work for us. What is going on around these cemented schedules that we can adjust? How can we make those little tasks easier, or make your day more efficient so there's less pressure on you? Can you take a class remotely instead of on campus? What about that meeting or phone call? Can you throw dinner in the crockpot that week to take task strain off of yourself?

3. Eat & Hydrate

   Listen, I know you're exhausted and hitting Macros can be stressful. So I'm urging you now, to throw your Macros in a box for a little while. Just stop counting them, stop measuring. If all you have the energy for is a frozen pizza or some take out, then do it. Just eat, preferably meals, and hopefully with at least a few veggies and some protein. If that much food freedom is scary for you, I get it, but I really want you to focus on just maintaining fueling your body regularly. A lot of us tend to skip meals when we're stressed or when we're busy, and it's SO HIGH KEY IMPORTANT for you to stay nourished and well fed. A starved body produces more cortisol than a fed body, and a cortisol body doesn't sleep, has a funky adrenal system and cannot focus to save their lives. A cortisol body sure as shit is burnt out too, and the whole point of this post is to NOT be burnt, so eat the damn pizza, hell get some TBell, idgaf. Just eat. And make sure you're drinking water.

4. Ask for Help for Fucks Sake

   I said what I said and I know you read that right. 💯 Ask for some damn help. Tell the people around you that you're getting ready to swan dive off the deep end and your foundations are crumbling. You need rest. You need someone else to do the damn laundry. You need to borrow someone else's notes, you need someone else to do dinner, etc. Just reach out your damn hand and tell someone that's close to you that you need help. Delegate to your family members. Yes the towels might be folded wrong or maybe dinner isn't how you do it, but get tf over it. It's done and you didn't have to do it.

The goal in these lists is to help you replan your strategies so that you don't feel like you're quitting or stopping or halting your progress or momentum, but instead you're alchemizing your obstacle from Burnt Out into healing and helping you keep the ball rolling.

Am I utilizing all of these tools? YES.

I've cut back my weightlifting and have included more gentle walks.

I've been eating wholesome nourishing foods and guzzling water.

I've also definitely eaten pizza.

I've been going to bed by 10pm and sleeping in every chance I get.

I've delegated more tasks to my family and asked them for help so I can get adequate rest.

I've been doing this all week, and yes I'm still maintaining my work life and my client care. I'm taking more time for myself and I'm allowing my body what it needs to recover and reset. I'll continue in this way until I no longer feel like I'm climbing a mountain and sliding backwards every 2 steps. I hope this helps you alchemize your burn out into continued progress and success!