Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop trying to be productive.
Last week I could feel burnout approaching, like a cloud on the horizon. This week, it arrived.
Work has been busy, mentally and emotionally. Even though I work from home most of the time, I had several trips across the country. Trains in the UK are a dream if you’re travelling to London and everything is perfect. The moment something goes wrong – a delay, a reroute, or you’re trying to go cross-country – the whole system collapses like wet cardboard.
And this week, everything went wrong.
There was a knife attack on a train line, and I can’t imagine how long those eight minutes must have felt to the people involved. Then the day before my travel, there was a derailment on my line. Trains cancelled. Reroutes everywhere. The usual chaos.
Travelling sounds passive, but for some reason it’s entirely draining
I stayed overnight for a meeting so I could be fresh the next day, and then, in the morning, I found out my dad had died.
We weren’t close, but news like that still knocks the air out of you.
After the meeting, I had a five-hour journey home. By the time I walked through my door, I was shattered. Exhausted in a way that wasn’t physical.
The difference now is that I recognise this feeling. I’ve had a full burnout before and this isn’t that, but it’s burnout adjacent.
My job is fine. What’s slipped is everything outside of it: the side hustles, the surveys, the focus. And honestly? It’s okay. A week off the plan doesn’t undo the progress.
Sometimes you have to let yourself slow down.
The tiny things matter more than you think
One thing I’ve learned – both from work and from life – is that mental health isn’t always hit by one big thing. It’s the final drip into an already full bucket. A derailment. A bad night’s sleep. A long journey. Unexpected news.
So this week, I’m simplifying everything.
Drink water.
A flask you carry around like a pet is genuinely a life-changing habit.
Eat something decent.
I recently batch-cooked and froze a few meals and it has saved me. When I’m worn out, feeding myself well is the first thing that fails.
Do something mindless.
For me, that’s cosy games on the PlayStation, Stardew Valley or Coral Island, specifically. The repetitive play helps me settle. You don’t always need to push forward.
Walk it out.
Me and my husband call this “putting it through our feet.”
You walk and, somehow, whatever’s knotting your brain loosens.
And finally: don’t take on the world.
Pick two small tasks a day. Tick them off. That’s enough.
One more thing – talk to someone. Anyone. A colleague instead of emailing. A friend. The person at the till. Human connection does more than we think. And I’ve never regretted going out my way to catch up with someone I don’t easily cross paths with.
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