4 Things to Do When You Feel Burned Out And Tired of Life

 I get it, life can be tiring at times. It seems we live in a society that glorifies being busy and normalizes being overworked, overwhelmed, and burned out!

As a former social worker and psychotherapist, it’s very easy to get caught up in the mundane day-to-day operations of personal and professional duties or obligations. It is super easy to become overly exhausted by our daily duties.

As an empath or helping professional, it’s also very easy to feel compassion fatigue which can also lead to burning out quicker. Burn-out whether at home or work is avoidable if you’re willing to prioritize some self-care, self-love, and self-maintenance. If you’re feeling tired of life, overworked, or overwhelmed here are 4 simple things you can do today!

1. Re-evaluate Your Calendar And Quit Comparing

Being quoted as “booked, busy, and blessed” has become quite the trend. When I work with my healing coaching clients, it’s often difficult for them to recognize when they are overworking themselves. It’s as if any blank time or “free time” on their calendar or schedule MUST be filled or else they feel inadequate, lazy, or under-productive.

I often tell my clients to re-evaluate their schedules. What I realize, from a psychological standpoint, is that there is a level of comparison that occurs for them. They tend to feel as if they are quoted, “keeping up with the Jones” by keeping a generally often filled calendar. They often fear a sense of judgment, shame, blame, or guilt if their calendar isn’t as filled as their neighbors, colleagues, relatives, or friends. Additionally, they feel a sense of unworthiness if they are not meeting the perceived expectations of those around them.

2. Set Boundaries And Say No

Part of being able to re-evaluate your calendar means being able to assess your boundary-setting skills. Remember that sometimes, we have to, “say no to good things so we can say yes to greater things.”

When we have difficulty saying no, our schedule gets overfilled with things that are truthfully unnecessary, don’t serve us, are not mutually beneficial, and are things we genuinely don’t want to do.

Remember that while setting boundaries is key, it’s also just as important (if not more important) to reinforce your “no” and the boundaries you set- each and every time.

3. Schedule Self-Care, Self-Love And Self-Maintenance

When we are overwhelmed, overworked, and on the verge of burning out, we need to stop and not only re-assess what we are putting on our schedule. Also, stop and assess how much self-care, self-love, and self-maintenance we actually have carved into our routine.

If you have ever been on airplanes, the flight attendants always advise you to put on your oxygen mask, in case of an emergency, before you help someone else with theirs. I tell this to my clients and remind them they can’t pour from empty cups.

While you’re taking a look at your schedule, be sure to not only carve in self-care, self-love, or self-maintenance; but in addition to this, be sure to carve out “do nothing” days.

4. Sensory Deprivation

In today’s society, we are on sensory overload. We sit with devices on all day long. We overconsume things via our sight and sound.

When we are feeling overwhelmed or burned out, somatic work, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance techniques such as mindfulness-based stressed reduction practices, breathwork, social media and digital detoxes, and literal derivation of the senses can be very helpful to calm the onset of burn-out.