Burnout Recovery Series: How to Reclaim your Daily Life

Hey friends, working on the newsletter this week has been a labor of love. Revisiting those emotions and scenes of my initial burnout has been exhausting, but I know this will reach the right people who need it most.

When discussing burnout recovery, we must understand that it is not something that a few short meditation sessions or a couple of manicures will fix. It requires a fundamental shift in how we operate daily, leading to sustainable and balanced action days and rest days, or as we refer to them here in the AOC, ROMPs, and RAFTs.

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The first thing I told myself was this:

"Lower the bar, then lower it again."

We start with teeny, tiny steps. The tiniest.

These strategies and approaches I am implementing in my day-to-day life have made the most difference.

Setting and maintaining boundaries. Boundaries are wildly important to have in place, but we often don't understand why we cannot keep them. I always tell my followers that "boundaries let me love myself and others at the same time." If the other person understands why those boundaries are important to you, they will see that you value their respect regarding your time, energy, and effort.

Saying "no" more often. Saying "no" can be tricky because many of our people-pleasing tendencies kick into high gear. When recovering from burnout specifically, self-preservation is the absolute highest priority in the restorative journey toward sustainable daily life. Remember: you are not responsible for how a person reacts to you declining an invitation, only how you approach it. Be gentle, state your reasons, and stand firm with your decision. The right person will accept your decision without hesitation.

Committing to "one big thing" a day. Understanding and accepting my limits as part of who I am has taken a lot of time. I know that I can tackle "one big thing" a day to the best of my ability, as my energy levels and focus can be spread too thin otherwise. One day, my big thing could be working on a slide deck for my AOC members. Another day could be cooking a balanced dinner for my family. Still, another could be just talking to a close friend and processing recent news. Each day will be different, and the amount you can accomplish well will vary. That is okay.

Guided journaling. This has recently transformed how I set my intentions and approach my daily life. Through the lens of burnout recovery, I am consistently checking in with myself to see how I'm feeling, how I'm processing my emotions, and how I will take on my "one big thing" for the day. After three months of semi-regular guided journaling, this has been an essential part of my recovery. Some days I journal on my laptop or in my notebook; others, I voice journal using an app called CocoonWeaver.

Mapping out my tasks for the week using ROMPs and RAFTs. The AOC formula I've developed has been a game-changer in my burnout recovery, as it permits me to plan ahead my action days (ROMPS) and rest days (RAFTS). As a recap, ROMP is an acronym for realistic, regular opportunities for meaningful, measurable progress. A RAFT is an acronym for reflection, assessing your progress, how you are feeling, and thinking about your next steps. I consistently follow the Rule of Three to keep making progress without getting bored or overwhelmed.

Delegating and outsourcing. If you have the ability to reach out to someone to help you, then do it. I regularly ask my partner to help me with tasks, and I outsource things like my taxes and accounting to give me the mental space to think about other not-so-scary things. I haven't always been able to do that, but I found the investment of a few hundred dollars to eliminate that mental heaviness is well worth it.

Disconnecting from social media. I have been super intentional about taking breaks from social media, and for good reason. There's a fine line between platforms and content that can inspire you, to content that can drag you down into a shame spiral feeling terrible about yourself. Although the majority of my business is now conducted on online platforms, I make it a point to disconnect at least twice weekly and schedule posts ahead of time if I need to.

Sparking my creativity. The hardest thing I found about burnout recovery is finding a way to feel invigorated by my special interests and hobbies again. This made me sad because I spent my whole life passionate about playing the piano and making music, and it had completely lost its fire within me. So part of my burnout recovery included taking piano lessons again for pleasure. I felt my teacher's push for accountability and was eager to make progress and beautiful music again. It also helped to have a teacher who fully understood my burnout and was extremely gentle with me.

Taking my time. I see now, eighteen months in, burnout recovery is a long game. I don't expect quick fixes, nor do I encourage anyone else to seek them. How you approach your days/weeks/months should be intentional, centering yourself and your well-being. The AOC was born from my burnout recovery, so I'm glad to see so many of you taking advantage of the community we are building.

Community care. Self-care is important (absolutely!), but community care is like that raft keeping you afloat above the water's surface. It surrounds you with support, care, and understanding when you cannot swim anymore. This is what the Accountable Otters Club is for club members and me. Humans are meant to be in a community, and it means the world when that community is full of people who truly understand you and what you may be going through.

The AOC is OPEN for new members, and our March Early Adopter Special expires next week on 3/31! This is the final chance to join us at a discounted rate, so take advantage of it now. Use code FLOATON for 20% off your first six months of membership!

Here's a great list of what the AOC is providing you:

Ready to join the club? Sign up below. Use coupon code FLOATON for 20% off your first six months of membership.

Looking for more 1:1 support? I have two accountability coaching VIP membership spots available and would happily tell you more about them. Reply to this email, and we can talk more.

Next week, we will wrap up our burnout recovery series with a way forward and a deeper dive into community care.

A question: Where do you currently find yourself if you are burnt out? Early signs? Rock bottom? In recovery? Take a moment to journal about this, and get your thoughts out. You can always reply to this email if you’d like some insight from me personally.

Until next week,

Izzie

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