Around five years ago, I had a burnout.
What basically happened was that my body just completely shut down and said 'no more'.
And as much as it had been building for a long time at that point, at least probably a year or
two, it still came as a surprise to me. One day I just couldn't keep it up any longer, and all
I could do for months and months basically, was sleep. This was a little over five years ago. And
my recovery took a long time, around two years. I do feel mostly recovered now from
my burnout and I'm doing very well. But I still know and feel that I need to take
really good care of myself and respect my own limits and boundaries, to prevent falling back
into it and possibly burning out again. So in today's video, I want to share with you what life
after burnout looks like for me. How I'm taking care of myself. How I'm doing. How I'm staying
within my own boundaries when it comes to work and other responsibilities and activities in my
life. And I want to share with you my mindful productivity tips, in the hopes that they can also
help you to stay balanced and healthy and happy. Welcome back everyone. And if you're new here,
this is a place where you can get tips and inspiration for living a simpler, happier and
calmer life. So be sure to hit subscribe if you haven't already to follow along whenever I post
a new video. I wanted to make today's video so that it can be helpful for anyone who's watching,
who had a burnout like me before. Or who's maybe currently going through a burnout. But also
for those of you who feel like maybe you're not doing so great currently. Or that you're
possibly even close to burning out. I know how helpful it was for me to listen to other people
talk about burnout, while I was going through it. So I just wanted to contribute to that as well.
But I think the tips that I share here today will be helpful for anyone who's watching. Because
mindful productivity is about getting things done in a way that is in alignment with your mental,
physical and emotional state. So it means being present in what you're doing, knowing and
respecting your natural limits. So that you can be productive in a way that is sustainable to
keep up doing long term, without burning yourself out in the process. And while my burnout had to do
with a lot more than just work - there were also several personal factors involved in my life at
the time, that all contributed to me getting to that state - now that I am working again and
I am being productive again, these tips help me to get everything done, while also taking
care of myself. So that I can find balance. The first thing that my burnout helped me
to realize is that there is no such thing as continuous balance. And that is important. Because
one, it means that being mindful of not doing too much or too little will always be important to
prevent burnout. And second, because even if I kind of mess up and cross my own boundaries for
a while, I know that there is a chance for me to recover from that. As long as I listen to my body
listen to the signs and choose to respect them. I used to think of balance in life as being
this state that you could get to. So as long as you did certain things, or you had certain
self-care habits in place, that you could get to that state. And then always feel balanced. But
I've learned that it doesn't really work that way. Life changes. My energy shifts from week to week.
Some weeks I have much more energy, some weeks I have much less energy. Also life sometimes
requires a lot more in terms of productivity. When things are suddenly very busy or it throws
a bunch of curveballs your way. And other times, there is this kind of lull. When things are
very slow and might even feel a little boring. So between life always changing, and me myself
always changing, there's no one state of balance that I can get to, where I will always feel
happy and healthy. So this means that the biggest thing for preventing burnout, or in my
case, life after a burnout, is being present and aware of what's going on. And listening to
the signs and knowing them well. Because when you pay attention to the signs that your body is
giving you, you can more quickly make changes in your schedule or your to-do's. Or the things that
you expect of yourself. To fit the current state of how things are for you. So pay attention
to how you're feeling. Mentally, physically, emotionally. Teach yourself to first notice these
things, and then to second to be able to not place any labels on these feelings as being 'good'
or 'bad'. So often we view not being productive because we are too tired as a bad thing. But it's
really not. It's just what happens. Everyone feels tired sometimes. It's normal and it's perfectly
okay. As long as you notice these things, and pay attention to them in a mindful way,
it's easier to listen to them. And maybe change some of your plans accordingly. Get some more
rest if you feel like that is what you need. Go out and do something fun and exciting and new,
if you feel like that is what you need. Of course, we all have jobs and responsibilities that we
cannot just simply stop whenever we feel like it. But there is so much more around that, that we
do have control over. And that is where you can focus on. By the way, it's a weird day in terms of
lighting. The sun is moving in and out. So sorry for the the changes in the video. Don't ignore
the signs. That is basically the most important thing. If I hadn't ignored the signs that my
body was giving me, one and a half two years before I eventually just shut down completely, it
probably wouldn't have been that bad. And it might not have taken me two years to feel somewhat okay
again. Not everyone is built to work full-time and then also do all of the other things that you
see other people do. Hold all of the balls in the air at the same time. And if that applies
to you, then that does not make you a failure. Number two that I want to talk to you about
today, is knowing the difference between when to push yourself and when to let go of
the expectations that you have of yourself. Some days, when it comes to being productive, I
just don't feel good. I feel tired, low energy. No motivation, no inspiration. But when I sit down
behind my laptop and I push myself a little bit, suddenly I start to feel better. And I get
into this flow. And I can get some work done that I feel really good about. Other times
however, no matter how much I push myself, it's just not working. And that's when I just need
to let go let go of any expectations that I had in terms of what I wanted to get done. Listen to the
signs. Listen to what it is that I actually need and just do that, and wait until I feel better.
And this isn't always easy. Especially now that I'm working for myself. On the one hand, it
gives me much more flexibility and freedom, for which I'm very grateful. But on the other
hand, if I don't work, I don't get paid. And I always want to make sure that I have a
video ready to be published every Saturday. But some weeks, I just cannot make it happen.
I don't have the energy. So there's always that push and pull. But I think everyone has these
moments sometimes, when you're just feeling in a rut. And you're not feeling motivated to go do
something. What you need then, is activation. Get things moving. Maybe move your body, or go outside
for a walk. Or do something, like an activity, to get the juices flowing and get in that mindset
of being productive and getting things done. Whereas other times, what you need is not
activation but rest. So it's very important to know the difference between these two, and act
accordingly. Basically what I do when I feel this way, sometimes I will immediately know. It's one
of those days where I really feel kind of bad. And very tired. And I need to just let go of
any expectations and rest, and do what I need to do to feel better. On other days, I try
to push myself to just see what happens. So if I start feeling better after pushing myself
a little bit, I just keep going. And I do the productive things. And if after trying for a
couple of hours, I only feel worse and worse, then I know it's the second kind. And I just need
to take care. Sometimes, you need to give yourself a gentle little kick in the butt. And sometimes,
you just need to take care and do as little as possible. So know that off days or non-productive
days are not a bad thing. They are part of leading a healthy, happy, productive life, just as much
as the productive days are part of that. They are required for you to feel good. So take advantage
of those weeks when you're not feeling your best, to just do less and take care. And make some
extra time for yourself. And if you feel like you could use a little help with recognizing the
signs and taking care, and being more mindful of these things, then I recommend checking out my 30
day slow living program which is called Unhurried. I will leave the link for you in the description
box. This is a quick little 30 day program, where every day you get an email from me with
a new lesson that has to do with slow living. Checking in with yourself, checking in with
your body. And a short challenge that usually you can do within 15 minutes or less. And this can
really help you to put that mindfulness that slow mindful productivity into practice and really
experience the benefits of it in your day-to-day life. So again, link is in the description. And
if you have any questions, feel free to ask. One of the biggest things when it comes to
slow productivity, mindful productivity, is taking frequent breaks. And somehow, this
isn't easy for many people. It's not easy for me either. Even if I have no one watching me, like
when I'm doing work and when I'm taking a break. It's just that when I start working now, I stop
noticing anything other than my laptop screen. I forget to eat, to drink. I forget to pee. And I
just stare at my screen, full concentration, and I forget to take breaks. But we know through all
of this research that it's much more effective to work for short bursts of times and then
take short breaks. What I like to do now, is practice what Cal Newport calls deep
work and deep rest. So when I'm working, I'm only focusing on work. No multitasking. I keep
my phone far away from me, on the other side of the room. No scrolling around on the internet.
Just purely focusing on the one task that I'm doing. And then, deep rest. Which means taking
a break that is actually restorative. Leaving the desk or the table where you are working. No
scrolling on your phone, no thinking about work. Just having a cup of tea or having a chat with
someone. Have a good lunch break. Sometimes, if I feel like my head is exploding from all of
the work that I've been doing - because my work is mostly mental work, so it feels like that often
for me - I take a break by doing some yoga. Or taking a shower. Or going for a walk. If you don't
take frequent small breaks, it's very difficult to keep noticing how you're feeling. Because your
work distracts you from these things. It distracts you from checking in with yourself. So you need
a frequent small break. And you can even do that by setting an alarm on your phone for every 50
minutes of work, you have a 10 minute break. And if your work does not allow you to take breaks
like this, then see if you can maybe sneak in a little break when you grab a cup of tea in the
break room. Or maybe even take a bathroom break. Another term that I think is very relatable,
is bore out. While burnout is something that happens usually because of stress, or bad
work life balance, overworking yourself. Bore out is what happens when you are basically
just bored with your work, or with your life. Where you get no sense of fulfillment from it and
everything feels very pointless. And this was 100% what was happening with me back then, too. Because
I honestly was not invested or interested in my own work when I was working a corporate job at
all. I had to fake being interested in my work. And that was very exhausting. So prevent bore
out, by doing fun things. New things. Exciting things. Scary things. Switch up certain routines
or hobbies or interests. But also in your work. If you can make some changes. You don't even
have to quit your job or change your job, necessarily. That depends on a lot of different
factors. But even if you can make some changes within your job, so that you can get something
back out from it, other than just a paycheck. Now, I'm doing something that I genuinely love and
have passion for. Where I truly feel like I can be my authentic self. And even though I'm
working hard and putting in a lot of effort, I honestly put my heart and soul into this thing,
I'm also getting so much back from it in return. And that was very different when I was working a
corporate job. Things were much easier in terms of finances and security, but I had to fake so
much. And that's very different now. And I know that it's not that easy, and not everyone can just
choose a job that they love. I feel very lucky and privileged in that sense. But I also think that,
if your job is not fulfilling you in any way, it's important to find something else in your life that
is doing that for you. Something to prevent bore out. Because burnout can happen, not only when
there is too much work and too little rest. It can also happen when you just don't get any sense of
joy or fulfillment from your life in any way. It can come when the reward for our work or for our
life, is not enough to make up for the effort that we put into it. So see if you can find some ways
to keep things fun and interesting for yourself. And the last thing that I want to talk about
today, with regards to life after burnout or mindful productivity, is the importance of
staying positive. And to believe that your body knows what it needs to stay happy and
healthy, and that it can tell you. And also, to learn from the factors that contributed to you
burning out, or that are currently contributing to you feeling stressed or tired, and to make changes
where you can. Everyone's recovery is different. Some people feel better after a couple of
weeks or months. Others, like me, take years. My recovery was very rocky. It was always one
step forward, two steps back. Two steps forward, one step back. And there were times when I truly
felt like something within me had broken beyond repair. That I would never fully recover again.
And that I would never be able to work again. I'm doing a lot better now. I'm back to working
full time. I'm actually working more hours now, than I used to work in my corporate job. But this
time is for something that I love, so it's fine. But it is so important to stay positive and to
believe in yourself. To believe that you still have it in you to heal and recover and
do the things that you want to do again. Because I lost that belief for a while, and
it really stood in the way of my recovery. There was a time when I really did not think
of myself as a healthy person. When in fact, I am. There was nothing wrong with me, I was
just burned out. Many people say, and I agree, that you never truly feel the same afterwards. I
do feel mostly recovered, but I also still feel much more fragile than I used to feel. And
that's why it's so important to also reflect about certain aspects of your life, or maybe
certain habits that you had, certain expectations that you had, that contributed to you burning out
in the first place. So that you can prevent it from happening again. I would recommend everyone
to reflect about these things occasionally, not just people who have burnt out
before. To really think like okay, which habits do I have when it comes to
work, when it comes to managing my calendar, when it comes to the expectations that I set for
myself, that contribute to me feeling stressed sometimes or tired or even exhausted? Did I push
myself too hard maybe? And if so, why is that? Does my job fit me well, or what would fit better?
Which expectations did I set for myself? Do I ask for help enough? Or do I expect myself to do
everything by myself all the time? And to really think about these things. For me, a large part of
my recovery was rest. Time. That's it. And also, changing my career from a corporate career,
deciding to quit that, and do something completely different. But also certain habits that I changed.
Certain expectations that I noticed and changed. I'm really doing a lot of things in my life very
differently now, than I did back like five, six years ago. And what those are for you, I cannot
tell you. You are the only one who can know that. So yeah, take care of yourself. Before I let
you go, I want to mention a few more things. I have some video recommendations for you. So the
first is a video that is up on my Patreon, where I share my whole burnout story. So which things
led to me burning out, the symptoms that I had, how I recovered, all of that stuff. So that is on
my Patreon that you can join if you want to watch that video. Of course, there are also many other
videos up on my Patreon. And I add at least two more videos every month there. So the link is in
the description. And secondly, a video that I made for YouTube, where I shared not really my burnout
story, but more like the 10 biggest lessons that I learned from my burnout. So I will leave the
link to that video and the Patreon video and the Unhurried slow living program in the description
box below. Lastly, I want to tell you that productivity, in my opinion, is not the be-all
end-all to life. Leading a happy life is. When you're older and you're looking back on your life,
I don't think that you are going to be thinking: Oh, I wish I was more productive. I wish I had
gotten more things done. I wish I worked more. I wish I got more to-do lists done every day. You're
going to be thinking about all the wonderful times you had. All the memories that you made with
the people that you love. So just because we live in times where productivity is valued as this
super important, like almost virtuous thing, that doesn't mean that it needs to be important to you
in your life. You decide what's important to you. Productivity is great, if it allows you
to do the things that you want to do. To possibly even make a difference for yourself and
others. But it doesn't always need to be pursued on its own. You decide what you value in life.
And if productivity does not make it very high on that list, that is perfectly okay. Thank you
so much for sticking around till the end of the video. I really appreciate it. And if you want
to help me out, then you can do that by giving the video a big ol thumbs up and subscribe to the
channel if you haven't already. And of course, I would love to hear from you what your thoughts
and experiences are when it comes to burnout. So please leave that, if you are willing to share, in
the comment section down below. So we can continue the conversation there. As always: questions,
comments, conversations down below. Thank you so much for being here. Have a wonderful day
and I will see you again next week. Bye bye.
