Hey there,

I'm currently writing to you from a co-work space in Yazd, Iran. I've been back in Iran for over two weeks now. With all the things we hear from the outside, it’s been surprisingly calm and comfortable to work from here. I’ve been enjoying time spent with friends and family, but as usual, a lot of my time is still spent working. This brings me to some revelations I’ve had on the topic of Burnout this week. I hope you find some value in it.

How to Avoid Burnout

I joined a 30-Day group this week, led by Alina (@alinasvibes on Instagram), a mindset coach and content creator. The idea of the group is to set a goal for the next 30 days that aligns with a larger long-term goal we have. Goal setting is something I’ve always struggled with. But Alina suggested we start with a 2-year goal and then work our way down to the 30-day goal. That was surprisingly more manageable.

I found this exercise helpful, but I still struggled with motivation and the feeling of burnout. It's that feeling of working on something and not knowing if you're doing it right or where it will lead you. It’s a pretty common feeling in the creator space. It has taken a lot of effort for me to make progress and to balance this path with the other responsibilities and work that demands my attention.

Alina kindly offered free calls to the group, so I scheduled one. She helped me narrow down my main goal and think about how I organize my time. It turns out that can be a major factor in avoiding burnout. I have a job that I need to do, the thing that pays me, and I fear falling behind on that work, so I usually start my day with it. But what happens is, after that work, I'm tired, and then I don't really feel the energy to spend time on my goals. Alina suggested that I shift my attention to my goals at the start of the day and then proceed to my current job. By doing this, not only do I have fresh energy to put towards my goals, but the act of working towards them actually energizes me and leaves me with more energy, rather than less, to complete my work.

This type of approach to balancing work and passion has actually intuitively made sense to me before, but there was always a fear that it could prevent me from meeting my work objectives. However, Alina helped validate that this wasn’t necessarily true. So far, I have actually found this approach helpful. I have much more energy and motivation now, towards my goals and my work.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

Take care, friend.

Until next time, ✌️