How to Fix Burnout When You Can’t Change Your Name, F*ck Off to Another Country, and Never Work Again

If you can change your name, f*ck off to another country, and never work again, you’re a legend.

Maybe shirking responsibilities isn’t all they noble.

But you have either managed to live such a minimalistic life that it’s easy to flip on its head, or you don’t have a single risk-averse bone in your body, so you’re willing to risk it all.

Nice.

If that’s you, go on.

Feel empowered!

Change your name, f*ck off to another country, and never work again for those of us who can’t risk it all.

If you’re feeling burnt out but you can’t change your name, f*ck off to another country, and never work again, all hope is not lost.

There are a few steps you can take to address your burnout:

Take a personal day (Optional)

One personal day is not going to fix your burnout problems for good.

But it’s a really nice and relaxing start.

Also, if you can’t afford to take a day off, you don’t need to take one in order to fight burnout. But if you do have the opportunity, it’s worth taking one.

When I’m really feeling the stress of grinding for so long, I’ll plan a day off on a random week day and force myself to do something relaxing.

It can be really tempting when you have a day off to cram side hustle work and tie up loose end, but that only further exacerbates the burnout.

The goal of a day off, in this case, is to rest and rejuvenate.

In my experience, people who burn out often tend to be people who are workaholics and/or don’t know how to relax.

But if you can’t figure out how to make yourself relax, or reset at the very least, you’ll never be able to fix your burnout.

Identify the cause of your burnout

Are you really burnt out, or are you just not getting enough restful sleep?

Are you really burnt out, or are you struggling with untreated mental health issues like I was?

Are you really burnt out, or do you hate your job and not want to go?

You could genuinely be burnt out because you’ve been grinding non-stop at your job or your side hustle or classes or any other thing, and you’ve been going for so long that you’re burnt out.

But there also times when we think we’re burnt out but it’s really something else.

One morning, as I was standing in the shower, I covered my face and said, “Ugh, I’m so burnt out!”

But then I thought about it for a second.

No, no I wasn’t.

I just got one incredibly poor night of sleep, so I was exhausted.

Figure out what the cause of what you perceive to be burn out is so you can address it appropriately.

If you don’t know the enemy, you can’t fight the enemy.

Mitigate the cause of your burn out

Now that you know what it is, you have to figure out how to mitigate it.

If you’re burnt out because you’ve been grinding at something non-stop, figure out how you can lighten your load, whether it’s asking for help or bringing on more people to assist you.

Or, it could just be extending your deadlines and/or asking for more time so you can create some breathing room for yourself.

If you’re feeling burnt out because you’re not sleeping well, figure out what’s interrupting your sleep.

It could be something serious and health-related, or it could just be that you need to implement a relaxing nighttime routine to help you reach deeper sleep.

Or, you could have untreated anxiety, depression etc., in which case, it’s appropriate to seek medical attention if you have access to it.

Whatever the case, now that you know what it is that’s causing you to feel burnt out, the next step is to mitigate that thing.

If you’re not able to mitigate that thing, you’ll suffer from burnout for the rest of your life.

Learn to check in with yourself more

This is preventative but when I burn myself out, it usually happens because I’ve been too distracted to pay attention to myself and my needs.

I end up ignoring all the signs my body is giving me that it’s overworked and under-cared for.

Then, the inevitable happens.

The dreaded burnout sets in and knocks me on my butt.

So the last step focuses on preventing future burnout by paying attention to your mind, your body, and your needs.

If you can do this, you’ll catch the signs and symptoms of burn out before burnout ever sets in.

And if you can address the burn out before it ever sets in, ~you’ll never experience burn out ever again~.

The Bottom Line

Sometimes, it feels like burnout is inevitable.

And to some extent, it may very well be. Many things, like stress over money and needed to take on extra work to get more of it, can really take there toll on us and leave us with few options.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to address your burnout.

You owe it to yourself to care for yourself and show compassion towards yourself because no one else can and will do it like you.