Work in Progress #21: Burnout, Part 2

So, sometime last year, I wrote a post about being burnt out.

I lost interest in a lot of things that I knew I loved, mostly because life got on a roll and started smacking me around.  Between layoffs, family stuff, and some pretty intense life upheaval, I found it hard to turn my brain off to write.  I tried counseling (which was moderately successful), I tried forcing my way through it (which was less successful), but in the end, the only thing that got me free of it was time.  I had to give my brain and body time to recover from a tumultuous and eventful year.  And once that happened, I thought I’d never deal with that burnt out feeling again.

Except… that’s not what happened at all.

It turns out, burnout is less of a one-time deal with exhaustion and overstimulation.  No, burnout is like a sprained ankle.  Once you turn it, it’ll always be a little unstable and there’s an increasing risk that you’ll injure it again.   And that’s exactly what happened; I got overworked, then overwhelmed, then too fried to do what I love.  I took some time away, rested my brain, and came back.  Each time it happens, it becomes easier and easier to fall back into.

Like a bum ankle.

Thing is, I don’t know how to prevent it.  With a bad ankle, you can brace it and protect it.  You limp a little bit for a while, and a doctor may even give you crutches.  I can’t find a burnout crutch, or an overwhelm brace.  And it sucks, because there’s all this stuff you want to do, and all you can do is stare at it.

There is a school of thought that says that you can manage where you are on a cycle by gauging your bandwidth and adjusting your output accordingly.  “Moderation,” I believe it’s called.  There’s something to that.  I know where I am on the cycle right now—at the very top, where I feel fine.  Maybe knowing that, I can keep myself from falling too hard on this little circle trip.

Anyway.  I appreciate you guys letting me rant like this.  How do you deal with feeling burnt out?  Does any of this feel familiar to you?  Drop a comment and let me know!