Burnout: A busy person’s greatest foe, and how we defeat it

Imposter Syndrome: The Hero

I’m a perpetually busy person. I’m always on a mission – a quest for dopamine! But like with any adventure, the path we take is not always a safe one. Every adventure has its perils, and for the perpetually busy person, there’s no greater foe than burnout.

It’s only natural that if you paint yourself as the hero of your story, that you have high expectations of yourself. Heroes are known for their achievements! But heroes are still only human, and forgetting that can put them in danger.

As someone who feels an intense need to prove myself, I launch myself into a mission, throwing all my energy into it until there’s none left. I struggle to delegate because I hold myself to such high standards that asking for help feels like cheating.

My unreasonably high expectations lead to disappointment when I don’t meet them. And before I know it, I’m burned out and unmotivated, chastising myself for what could only ever have been a failure because my own goalposts for a victory were never within reach.

Recovery is slow – balancing self-care with the constant need to get up, prove my worth, earn the right to be the hero of my own story. Imposter syndrome is a friend to burnout. Together they are formidable!

But they can be defeated. Ever since I started being more responsible with my energy, I’ve felt able to beat them back. Knowing yourself is your greatest weapon. Recognising that your recovery will not be linear, that energy fluctuates, and that you can’t use the same approach to getting better that got you into this in the first place, is the key to pulling yourself out of burnout.

Escaping ‘Energy Debt’

You’ve got to see your energy as a finite resource. You’re careful with money, so that you don’t overspend and end up in your overdraft – energy is much the same!

Energy debt is where you’ve pushed yourself past your limits, and now you’re having to pay back the energy you borrowed. Sometimes it can feel like the energy needed to do your day to day tasks has increased in price. Suddenly, taking a shower costs twice as much. Getting out of the house for a walk feels very expensive. You’re paying energy, with interest.

Recovery means sticking to your budget, working within your means, and saving where you can. You have to prioritise spending energy on what you know will help you feel better, but it’s not as simple as just doing less to recover quicker.

It’s a balancing act. It can be so tempting when you’ve made progress and you feel some of your energy return, like payday has come around. You might be tempted to spend more energy than you can really afford, because it feels so novel to even have energy to spare!

But it’s not spare, because you’re still in debt. Spending that energy might push your progress to recovery back even further. But it might also mean doing something you enjoy which benefits your mental health. Every situation will be different, and the trick is learning what you personally benefit from enough to justify the energy cost.

The Moment of Victory

I’ve had to learn to chase the dopamine that’s good for me – that gives me the satisfaction of a challenge without costing more than the energy I can afford! The advice to just take time off, do nothing, stop… None of that has ever worked for me, because I cannot be idle.

Some of us are just built to be busy, and that’s okay, provided we budget our energy effectively. Being busy can be healthy, safe and rewarding – and it’s a process of learning about ourselves and our needs that allows us to stay busy, without running the risk of burnout.

We won’t always win. Burnout might sometimes get the better of us, but that doesn’t mean we’ve failed, because the story continues. Some think heroes are made at the end, in an ultimate blaze of glory showdown. But those aren’t the moments we remember best.

We remember the moment a hero falls. Facing unfathomable odds, they pull themselves back up, refusing to accept defeat. Those are the moments that make a story special, and those are the moments heroes are born.

Written by Emrys Aspinall