Here are the three mistakes you should NEVER make when recovering from burnout, as they will hinder your recovery, and ideas for what to do instead.

Have you experienced a point in your life when you’ve just felt drained, exhausted, or completely burnt out? Almost all of us have been there. Whether due to personal or professional demands, this fast-paced world will always put a lot on our plate, and it can be tough to keep up with everything.

When you’re feeling burnt out, many competing factors are usually at play:

1. You desperately need a break, and you know it.
2. There are too many important things to do, so you can’t take a break.
3. Your productivity and ability to do those very important tasks is severely diminished. They’re not getting done, the quality is suffering, or the unfinished ‘to-do list’ is getting longer and longer.

No matter how burnt out you are, there is always hope for recovery.

It’s a matter of prioritising your recovery. Prioritising YOU above everything else!

I‘ve experienced burnout and learnt a lot through the process. Here are 3 mistakes that are easy to make that could set your recovery back.

1. Putting off important tasks

“If I could only work efficiently, then I’d be able to get everything done.”

That’s what I often tell myself. 

“I’m so tired right now I could drop dead on the spot.”?

Or even,

“Trying to focus on anything is difficult… I know! I’ll take a short break now to rest and recuperate, and then I’d be at the top of my game to smash through all those important things later….”

What’s wrong with this idea? Well, a few things! 

First, I’m burnt out, not just tired. Taking a short break will not be enough to bring me back to my peak.

Second. I haven’t reduced my workload. I’ve just put it off until later. If the problem is too many things to do, I’ve just made that problem worse. 

And finally, if it wasn’t coping with my workload previously, what makes me think I’ll do any better in the future? Presumably, I was previously at my peak at some point, and my current commitments slowly burned me out over time. Why should I think that ‘next time’ I’ll do better? With precisely the same strategy? It’s wishful thinking. It’s DESPERATE thinking. It’s a long way from reality.

Don’t “put off” important tasks.

Instead, REDUCE the load.

2. Asking yourself, “What can wait?”

You might ask yourself, “Among all my tasks, which ones can wait?”

Instead, ask yourself, “What can I drop?”

It’s hard, but the only way to get back on track is to recognise our reduced capacity and let some things go.

In my experience, they always seemed bigger and more important before I dropped them; in hindsight, they were not as important as I thought.

And we often push ourselves to the edge because of what others might think. 

At the end of last year, I wanted to take a break. I KNEW I needed a break, but I just compressed it instead of reducing my workload. I shuffled it around and tried reorganising it to ‘make it fit’. It didn’t work. Did people notice? Maybe some. Did people care? No.

I’m personally grateful to my Patreon supporters. They remind me it’s okay to take a break. No one wants me to push myself to burn out for the sake of a few weekly videos.

3. Shuffling your tasks around

Everything seems important. My brain flicks between one uncompleted task to the next, making little to no progress.

But…

Don’t ‘reshuffle’ your work.

Decide what to cut and do it. If you don’t cut it, it will always be there in the back of your mind.

For me, this adds a huge amount of stress and anxiety just thinking about it. Just knowing it’s there. But when I drop it, I DECIDE to let it go. Let it out of my mind and NOT pick it up again. Then I feel the stress leave, and I can start to relax and recover.

Confronting your burnout is a journey

Recovering from burnout is challenging and can seem overwhelming at the start. However, think of it as embarking on a journey that requires us to navigate through potential pitfalls and obstacles before reaching our goal of a full recovery. 

So, instead of falling into these traps that might set you back on your journey, here are some tips that have worked for me and might work for you too.

1. Streamline your to-do list.

First, identify big things you can cut from your workload (and consciously accept the consequences). You must truly embrace the changes you made, or it will still use up mental energy if you keep thinking about what you had to give up.

2. Drop it and move on.

When going on a long journey, packing light and sticking to your essentials is always important. It’s the same for our journey to recovery. We wouldn’t want to take unnecessary extra baggage that could slow us down. 

Let go and shift your focus to the most critical tasks. Prioritise self-care by making a promise to yourself not to pick up any of the cut tasks (Don’t even think, ‘When I’m feeling better, I’ll pick it up again’) to avoid slipping back to where you started.

3. Stick to your promise

Tackle the priorities you have identified early on and act on them. Do what’s left on your list after cutting back. Remember that you must only do the most important things straight away.

Are you ready to take that journey? 

Or do you want to help someone navigate one of their most difficult times and recover from burnout?

Ready to overcome burnout and experience lasting change? At Autism From the Inside, we offer personalised coaching services for autistic individuals and parents. Together, we'll uncover the causes of burnout, develop effective strategies, and empower you to thrive. Learn more about 1:1 coaching and how it can help you here.