There is old saying that practice makes perfect and build a routine to be better at something. But have you ever feel that you feel hopeless or trapped within the routine?
What happened to recently is I trapped in routine of working. I was determined to get things done, and as a result, I was working morning full time and still have some night calls. And the amount of night calls are becoming more and more.
I suddenly felt helpless and burn out as I don’t have life outside work. To have catch up with friends are getting harder, to do some revision for Japanese is also not possible. When did the last time I watch a movie? When did the last time I have a good long run? When did the last time I have proper catch up with friends without needed to run between appointments.
I blame myself to be caught into the rhythm. It’s a reminder for me to say “no”, as there are only 24h per day. I felt empty although I managed to complete a project within 2 months. It’s my personal best to date by the way.
However, it didn’t excite me at all to do another project by repeating the mechanics of the launched project. And quite opposite that it demotivates me. Because I didn’t learn anything new. I’m using all the knowledge I know which has been accumulated through my working life.
As Steve Jobs said, you can only connect the dots by looking backwards, I find that it’s true and yet makes me think that how to help me to find my forward..
I find that working brute force, like back then during school days, is okay to do it once in awhile. It gives you the excitement when exploring new projects. But it’s not sustainable in the long run. Imagine you have to maintain your sprint speed in an ultra marathon. Maybe there are people can do it, but they must have gone through proper training so that they won’t injure themselves along the way and more sustainable.
I’m a believer of something happened for a reason. This could be the trigger point to teach me about saying “no” because I’m the type of learner who learn best through experiencing or doing.
Another key point I can take from this is, what I have learned so far at work, can be applied to my life outside work, like volunteering or how to deal with friends. As for the past few years, my normal life has given me more wisdom to be used at work. Now it’s a payback from work.
I know it won’t be easy to balance the work and the life part, but we have to manage it. Because too much of something will be bad.
Have you ever felt burn out and how did you manage it?
