Episode 085: Avoiding Burnout By Pressing Pause
How do you know you’re on the brink of burnout? Or maybe you’re already there. And if you are, what do you do about it?
In this solo episode I take you behind the scenes of how I found myself on the edge of burnout and how I pressed paused to rest and reset.
You’ll hear me share:
How I define self-care
What does pressing pause mean
How I was able to that and reset
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Read the Episode Transcript...
Hello my friend! Welcome back to The Live FAB Life Podcast! I’m your host, Naomi Nakamura.
This will probably be my shortest and most unscripted episode. I’m literally just winging it today.
Because as long-time listeners know, this show is a solo show. It’s 100% produced by me which means I really need to stick to a pretty regimented weekly schedule in order to put out weekly episodes and if I don’t, then things don’t happen.
But I happened to take a few days off, which I was in desperate need for but as a result, put me behind schedule.
In fact, today’s episode was supposed to be on an entirely different topic. But I’m switching things up because
It’s much quicker and easier to produce a solo show, especially one that I’m winging
I really want to talk about what we’re going to talk about today and that’s on the importance of pressing pause, which I guess, falls under the category of self-care.
Self-care is a popular topic these days and I think more and more people are making it a priority in their lives. We even dedicated an episode to it - Episode 018, which if you listened to it, then you know that self-care comes in many different forms – ranging from mental to physical to emotional.
It can be luxurious, like spa days, massages, manis and pedis, but really, it’s about doing the things that are essential for your health and well-being.
The key to effective self-care is knowing what your individual needs are, then honoring them. Because when you do, your energy becomes endless and your potential is limitless.
Some things that you can do to practice “self-care” are:
- Slow down and take things one step at a time
- Eat healthy foods
- Lean on a coach, like me, for support
- Exercise and move your body
- Practice deep breathing - never underestimate the power of pausing and taking deep breaths
- Make yourself a priority
As you know, I fully subscribe to these practices and beliefs, but if I’m being honest, lately my life has been a case as “do as I say, not as I do.”
So today, I want to spend some time talking about two more things you can to practice self-care and that’s taking breaks and spending time with supportive people, which is exactly what I did this past weekend.
Over the past 2-3 months I found myself in the dreaded situation of doing a lot of things but not doing ANY of them well. And for the Type A, Enneagram One person that I am, it was highly unsettling to be so inefficient and unproductive.
I’ve felt like its a battle between doing nothing and doing all the things with no middle ground and to be quite frank, left me unmotivated to do anything.
And this isn’t me because I actually find love doing the work that I do, I find joy in doing it. I thrive on it; I’m always thinking and strategizing and I love talking shop.
So for a few weeks, I wasn’t quite sure why this these past few months felt different, mostly draining. In retrospect, I think it’s because I’ve done more extroverted things - like leading a group program, team calls, attending conferences, and for an introvert like me, those things are incredibly exhausting.
It would have been wise to build in some downtime after these events because without the right balance for recovery and allowing time to reinvigorate myself, well it’s a sure path to burnout, which then can lead to adrenal fatigue and all the things I’ve shared that I’ve had in my health journey.
So I knew I needed to press pause, even for just a few days to allow my body, but mostly my brain, time to regroup.
But what did that look like for me? What would pressing pause be like for me, right here, right now, at this present moment in my life?
When I thought about it, it came down to the two things I mentioned: taking a break and spending time with supportive people.
And I knew that for me to take a real break, I had to get out of my normal, daily environment because if I didn’t, I’d be tempted to keep doing what I always do.
Because when you work from home, it’s hard to shut things down completely, and let’s be honest, that’s not something that I particularly want to do, or even enjoy doing.
But this time, I was in such a funk, I knew that I needed to shut things down 90% of the time (because 100% would never happen), even if just for a few days
So, I decided to take a break, get out of town and visit friends - friends who uplift me, support me, and who I genuinely have fun with.
And that’s exactly what I did this weekend. I decided to drive down to Southern California, yes drive versus fly, which in and of itself is unusual for me.
Being the Type A, time-efficient person, why would I drive six hours (or in my case just over five), versus taking a one-hour flight?
Because I wanted the opportunity to zone out in my car by myself, listening to podcasts and audiobooks that have been sitting in queue for months. Or simply just rock out to music - I mean, when was the last time I just listened to music in the car when its almost always a podcast episode of some sort?
The drive, both ways, was simply a time to just be. And it was glorious. And the drive was short enough where my foot didn’t cramp up and I didn’t doze off at the wheel, which almost always happens on longer road trips.
And the time spent there?
I got to eat good food, shop with good friends and catch up with long-time friends - people who I’ve been friends with for well-over 25 years. And when you have those kinds of friends, where when you get together, it feels like no time has passed, those are the truest kinds of friends and the ones that you feel nothing but joy and ease being around.
It was exactly the kind of reset that I needed to where now responding to an email doesn’t feel like a herculean effort to where it’s the one and only thing I can do in a given day.
I actually feel motivated and energized enough to be productive and get things done.
So if you ever find your inbox massively out of control, feeling tired all the time, and in a funk where you have all these things you have to do and you actually have the time but no motivation to do it, recognize that you are on the brink, or in the depths of burnout and you need to press pause and ask yourself, “What does my body, my mind and my spirit need right now to feel reinvigorated and motivated again?”
Then do it!
That’s it for this week, thanks so much for tuning in!
After listening to this, I want to hear what you will be doing to press pause. Come on over to the show notes for the episode at www.livefablife.com/085 and leave a comment, or find me on Instagram at @naomijnakamura and tell me what will pressing pause look like for you?
I’ll see you right back here again next week with another brand new episode for you!
Naomi Nakamura is a Functional Nutrition Health Coach. She helps passionate, ambitious high-achievers who are being dragged down by fatigue, burnout, sugar cravings, poor sleep, unexplained weight issues, and hormonal challenges optimize health, find balance, and upgrade their energy so they can do big things in this world.
Through her weekly show, The Live FAB Live Podcast, programs, coaching, and services, she teaches women how to optimize their diet, support their gut health, reduce their toxic load, and improve their productivity, bringing work + wellness together.
Naomi resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and can often be found exploring the area with her puppy girl, Coco Pop!
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