If You’re So Burned Out You Barely Recognize Yourself, These 10 Steps Can Help You Come Back
dekazigzag | Shutterstock Whether you’re experiencing burnout from a place of workaholism-induced fatigue, situational depression, or a chronic lack of rest, research has shown how burnout affects your body. If you're so burned out you barely recognize yourself, there are things you can do to recover from burnout faster than you thought possible. For three years, I barely took a day off — and I mean barely. Even saying barely feels generous.
While rest is a sound solution for most ailments, I wanted to do more to be proactive in my recovery. I noticed what moved the needle for me and what didn’t. There are 10 high-leverage steps I took to recover from my bout of extreme burnout. I noticed a significant uptick in my energy levels within two to three weeks and felt almost back to 100 percent in under two months.
If you’re so burned out you barely recognize yourself, these 10 steps can help you come back:
1. Make health your number one priority
Illnesses are what happen to our bodies when we’ve been ignoring their messages for too long. When you reach a point of extreme burnout, you’re there because you’ve been overriding your body’s message to slow down and rest for too long. It seems there is no other way than to stop you dead in your tracks and make you listen.
You must make the conscious decision that you are going to listen to your body and make your health your number one priority from now on. Not just until you feel a bit better so you can get back to your "normal" life, but literally from now on. Studies have helped explain how this is a wake-up call. It’s time for you to create some fundamental shifts in your life that will see you honoring your health more daily. No more taking your health for granted, it’s time for a real change.
2. Take a break to reset your nervous system
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There are likely a handful of things in your life that you’ve been engaging in that have been draining your metaphorical batteries for a while now. To earn your way back to a clean bill of health, you must begin by taking a proper break from the things that have been exhausting you.
Take a two-week break from work. Start saying no to social events that drain you. Pass off your least favorite responsibilities to someone else for a while. Yes, people will be disappointed with you. But your health comes first.
3. Reach out for help
If you’ve reached a place of full-on burnout, you’ve likely been shouldering too much for a long time.
- Do you find it difficult to ask for help?
- Do you feel like no one has your back?
- Do you live by the moniker, "If you want something done right, do it yourself?"
Stop trying to do life on your own. Ask your friends for support. Tell your family members or close confidants that you’re struggling. Let people in. There is probably a flood of people who would want to help you with your situation if they only knew how much you needed their help. We are a social species. Research on social support to overcome burnout has suggested we need each other to thrive. You are no exception. Reach out to a handful of people and ask for their help, and start now.
4. Build a team of healers to help you
It took more than one factor to get you to this place of burnout, and it’s likely going to take more than one form of treatment to help you get better. On my journey, I visited a medical doctor, two naturopaths, a registered massage therapist, an acupuncturist, an energy healer, and a therapist. I made healing my full-time job, and I knew that having a dedicated team of healers around me would expedite my process.
While I’m not guaranteeing you’ll need more than a simple visit to your doctor to get the clarity that you’re looking for, it never hurts to get multiple opinions and tests done, just to rule out various health factors.
Healing your physical body from extreme burnout is a war of attrition, not a war of annihilation. Put in another way, lots of little things are going to add up to helping you to heal, more likely than it is you’ll find one magic bullet to heal you right away (as nice as that would be). So enlist help. Yes, friends and family, but also enlist the aid of people who help others heal professionally.
5. Regularly engage in gentle exercise
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The health benefits of exercise are innumerable, but when you’re in a phase of extreme burnout, it can be challenging to get out of bed, let alone get yourself to the gym to have a personal trainer for a full hour. When it comes to getting your blood flowing during your burnout recovery, ease is the name of the game.
A study suggested engaging in exercise for short periods, without pushing yourself too hard. Go for slow walks away from traffic noise. Stretch for a few minutes on the ground in your living room. Go for a walk in the forest with a friend. Practice yoga from home. Dance around your home to a song that you like. If you find yourself even more tired the day after your workout, you may have been pushing a bit too hard. Whatever form of exercise you engage in, make sure you aren’t overly exerting yourself.
6. Make room for play and laughter
Laughter is like an instant vacation. If you’re chronically waking up and barely able to function, life can seem pretty unmanageable and certainly not very funny. But it’s important to do whatever you can to prioritize laughter and play in your life.
Watch stand-up comedy (live or online). Invite your most hilarious friends over for breakfast. Go see professional improvisational comics do their thing. Whatever it is that tends to tickle your funny bone, put it on your calendar and make it happen.
7. Question and re-prioritize your values
Whatever millions of little decisions led you to your particular form of burnout, the root cause of your having gotten there is most likely, at least in part, screwy values. As an example, if you value financial gain over your health, sooner or later, it’s going to bite you. Take a moment to sit with the question: “What have I been valuing that has led me to this place of extreme burnout?”
Personal development coach Hilary DeCesare said people who recover from burnout "define success for themselves. Run or conduct your business on your own terms. This means you might often find yourself as the outlier. When something is considered the norm, truly take the time to assess whether this is acceptable as your norm."
8. Eat small meals frequently to avoid sugar spikes
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During your burnout recovery, you want to ensure that you’re being as gentle with your blood sugar levels as possible. The worst thing you could do is consume two or three massive, overly processed meals per day. The best thing you can do is eat four to six small, nutrient-dense meals per day.
"For example, eating plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables does more than just help maintain a healthy gut," added life coach Karen Finn. "It also helps provide sustainable energy and a balanced mood. Add a healthy, nutritious food to every meal as a simple start. You'll be surprised by what a big change can happen from such a small amount of work."
9. Avoid processed sugar, caffeine, and any other stimulants or drugs
Again, in line with taking it easy on your blood sugar levels, you want to ensure that you’re avoiding all refined sugar, caffeine, and any other stimulants or drugs. No alcohol, smoking, or junk food. This might sound challenging to you, but a study supported how it’s necessary.
In terms of your burnout recovery, there’s more flexibility with sugar than there is with drugs, alcohol, and caffeine, but truly do your best to avoid all of the above, especially during the first 2-4 weeks of your recovery. If you find yourself having a craving for junk food, just drink a liter of lemon water, eat some coconut oil and/or cashew butter, and take a nap. Believe me, your body will be much happier with you.
10. Regularly do nothing
As much as I benefited from getting massages, getting blood work done with my doctor, and turning into a human pin cushion at my acupuncturist's office, there were many days when the best thing I could do for myself was to stay home and do nothing. For the type-A overachievers out there, doing "nothing" might seem like too nebulous a concept. So, here are some options as to what doing nothing could look like.
- Sit in front of the ocean/a large body of water and just look at it.
- Lie on your back on the ground and just breathe.
- Take a nap whenever you feel called to nap.
- Take a long, luxurious Epsom salt bath.
- Go to bed early, and stay asleep for as long as you’re able to.
Remember, any kind of extreme burnout phase is meant to be a wake-up call. If you’re feeling this tired, then what is it in your life that needs to change? For me, it meant less screen time, only putting out articles that I deeply believed in, and spending more time investing in my rest and self-care.
For you, it could be something completely different. Get in the habit of regularly checking in with your body and asking it what it needs from you. Your body is wise. It has a lot more answers for you than you might think.
Jordan Gray is a five-time Amazon best-selling author, public speaker, and relationship coach with more than a decade of practice. His work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Women's Health, and The Good Men Project, among countless others.
