An article by Kristi Less // Health Detective + Wellness Coach
If there’s one thing I know how to do well, it’s burn myself out. For better or for worse, I’m kind of a pro. Pedal to the metal with a one-track mind till the job is done, and even when the job is done, I’m still going. And I know I’m not the only one guilty of this (yes biz babe, I’m looking at you).
The desire to get stuff done is perpetual, especially as a busy #bizbabe. In our fast-moving world, we feel that if we stop, we’ll miss out. If we take a beat, we’ll miss the bus, fall behind, appear lazy, not driven and worst of all, fail to meet the crazy expectations we set for ourselves on any given day.
I’m not the biggest believer in the concept of balance, sometimes life gets cray and #allthethings need to be done, that’s totally ok. What I do believe in however, is balancing push and pull, strive and stop, yin and yang. We need to stop driving ourselves into the ground living in the illusion that the magical land of “it’s all done” is actually a place that exists.
I’ve worn myself out plenty of times. Each time was preceded by higher levels of anxiety, inability to handle stress, feelings of overwhelm, more coffee, less sleep, a wired feeling that left me unable to relax, less appetite, foggy thinking, mistakes made, things dropped and some weird health symptom that appeared to have come out of nowhere (hint, it did not come out of nowhere).
As goal striving biz babes, we need to learn how to look after our #1 asset, our own damn self! The best way to do this? Prevention.
How to get sh#t done without burning out:
1 – Plan breaks, you can’t trust yourself to take them on a whim and if you don’t, more important things will surely take over (oh look, Instagram) and before you know it day = gone. Consider a morning routine, a mid-morning coffee with your feet in the grass, a decent lunch break away from your computer, find a way to switch between work and the evening (mine is a sunset walk) and implement a strict “off” time to end your day. Make at least two of these non-negotiable.
2 – Listen to your body, it knows stuff. As soon as your sleep starts declining, your appetite changes, you can’t think straight, you lose desire to do your favourite things, you sex drive drops… you’re on your way to burn out. Stop. Drop. Listen. Before it’s too late. Figure out your body’s way of talking to you and listen in – it’s not trying to sabotage your productivity, it’s trying to give you warning signs.
3 – Eat! It seems like a no brainer but when we’re busy this is often one of the first things that drops off. More coffee, more take-out, more skipped meals leading to poor choices late night at night (no, a block of chocolate is not a meal). I know you’re busy AF but never leave eating till last minute, think ahead! Be prepared, make sure you have healthy food in the house, cook extra so you always have leftovers, find ways to make it easy to eat well.
4 – Practice self-love, know that you’re enough even when you aren’t producing, doing, making, selling, hustling. Let me repeat, you ARE enough. Do something that lights you up, so you can continue to shine your light in the world. The old adage “you can’t pour from an empty cup” is truer than true here. Fill your cup before it gets empty and be sure to fill it every day.
5 – Learn to say no (I know I know, just try). If you respect your own boundaries around time and workload other people will too. If you start saying “no” to things that you just can’t take on in order to prioritise your health, people won’t be upset, they’ll likely appreciate the example you’re setting. We teach people how to treat us, be mindful of this. How we let people treat us, is usually how they’ll continue to treat us.
6 – Have a day off, like a full day off. Give yourself a chance to miss your phone, forget your socials, keep the laptop closed and not log into your emails. They’ll all be there waiting for you again in the morning once you’ve recharged. The world will not stop because you do, I promise. And you’ll actually be more productive long term if you do.
Bonus tip! Get an accountability babe, share your non-negotiables and check in weekly to make sure you keep each other on track.
To find out more about Kristi and her services, visit www.kristilees.com
Kristi i
s a Health Detective and Wellness Coach who learned the hard way how to cultivate wellness into her life, so you don’t have to. She has a background in fitness and yoga as well as being Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and Certified Transformational Nutrition Coach. She digs delving into the science and psychology of wellness and her speciality is getting to the root cause of your health struggles then finding practical solutions to help you overcome them, for good. Because let’s face it, you’ve got better things to do than deal with symptoms all day. She’s light-hearted and empathetic but serious about your well-being because she’s been there and understands how debilitating ongoing health issues can be.