The “Burn out” or small batteries need to be recharged often November 13, 2008

that’s the dareberry of the day:)

it took me almost 3 weeks from the moment i thought “i need a break” until i actually decided and took action to take this break – i booked 5 days in Prague.

during these last 3 weeks my energy went so low that i got back pains, stomach problems, extremely low productivity (about 35% of the usual) and i started to loose patience with people and i needed much more time to process information and take decisions…all are symptoms of the “burn out disease”

during the last few years i realized that to function well, to have a healthy creativity and to be productive, i need 3-4 days off (maximum 5 days, otherwise it gets boring), away from everything (including Internet access), each 2.5-3 months. A client of mine calls these “mini-retirements”.

my advice for you and the dareberry of the day is this: find out your limit. how long do your batteries last and how long do they need to get recharged again? and …when you know the answer to this question, write it down someplace visible, so you will be able to SEE IT when your batteries are so low that you don’t even realize they are that low… when you get “burn out” you won’t be aware of it!

(it took me almost 3 weeks to realize what’s going on with me)

More on “Burn out” here.

hugs,

A.