2 Tips For Getting Back To Work After Being Burned Out

There are a number of articles out there helping you understand what it means to be burned out, or even how to avoid it. However, very few people talk about the other side of it. How to get back into your work once you have been burned out.

And honestly, as someone who has experienced burn out, I would say that this piece is the hardest part. I'm not here to tell you that there is a one size fits all manual for starting up again, but I can at least share with you what worked for me.

Start slow

Hands down, this is the most important tip! I understand there may be the pressure to jump in full swing again. However, it is extremely important that you take it at your own pace. Start small and slowly keep adding items until you are at a level you want to maintain. I intentionally said “level you want to maintain” and not "where you were before". You got burned out for a reason… you were doing too much at once! So why then would you go back to that level to just repeat the cycle? Trust me, this was hard for me to understand too. But I promise, this realization will be vital to you and your recovery!

Think about what gives you joy

As I mentioned above, this is your warning to remove some items from your todo list. So this is your chance to reflect on what you do and see which ones you truly do enjoy. For example, are there activities you do because you feel you have to do them? Or, are there some that might have helped you earlier in your career, but may not be relevant anymore?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, I would highly encourage you to think about removing those items from your to do list. This way you can fill your list with items that are vital and enjoyable to you, all while slimming it down. This way, you create a path for yourself that hopefully helps you not continue the burn out cycle!

As you think about which items to remove, it is extremely important though that you are not concerned with what others will think. At the end of the day you are doing this for yourself, and yourself only. As I mentioned earlier, there is no perfect manual for returning back to work after being burned out, but hopefully these two tips will help you!