Burnout & The Coffeehouse Experience: Part 6
I just spent the last 15 minutes working on a post that I’ve put up on my blog already, and I did the same thing two weeks ago. What is this a sign of other than the usual forgetting that goes with an older brain? Burnout.
Ah, burnout, my old friend, nemesis, whatever. I know you well. On a scale of crispness, with zero being not burnt at all, I would put myself currently at a 6. The only good thing I see here is my awareness of it. When this has happened to me at other times, I didn’t realize I was fried until I was well into the pan.
When the brain is stressed, one of the first things to go is short-term memory. Check. The next is the ability to regulate emotions. A big check. And the next sign is the onset of increased anxiety and depression. Yup and yup. Despite my vast toolkit of coping mechanisms, I am struggling and it’s getting worse. What’s been happening also explains why I haven’t been writing much, as I alluded to in my last post.
Why am I so prone to burnout? Maybe you’ll resonate with my reasons. Number one, I am juggling a lot of responsibilities. Number two, I have reached a certain age where my hormones are doing constant battle with my wits, which often results in brain fog and irritability. Number three, I work in a profession that puts you at high risk for burnout. And number four, I am a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), which means I process stimuli differently than most other people and I am at increased risk for things like stress, trauma, anxiety and depression. To learn more about being an HSP, go to Dr. Elaine Aron’s website.
Okay, so I’m burned out. What do I do with this? And what must I do differently compared to the other times I’ve faced this? I’m still trying to figure this out. When this has happened before, I simply left the biggest stressor and took a lot of rest and self-care time, and that mostly took care of it. I cannot do that in this instance. So, when the obstacle cannot move, I must find a way to move around it, like water flowing over a rock.
What could this look like? Maybe I delegate more or hire someone to help around the house. Maybe I change my hours at my practice or take more days off to allow for more time to relax and write. Maybe I close up my practice, which honestly, I’m not about to do because I just started it, but still, that is an option. Maybe I just wait things out and see how I feel when fall starts. Spring and summer are always crazy busy times for me, so perhaps it’s just the season. These are some viable options that I will be considering in the next few weeks.
Have you ever struggled with burnout? What has that looked like for you and how did you overcome it? I’m always open to more ideas about how to cope. You can email me at lori@loriapeterswriter.com .
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The Coffeehouse Experience, Part 6….
I managed to squeeze out some time between meetings to visit a coffeehouse I haven’t been to yet – Idea Coffee at Arcona. Arcona is a planned community in Mechanicsburg, PA in which retail and residential peacefully co-exist in proximity. This location is the second of several locations Idea Coffee has around the mid-state. I blogged a few months ago about its other location within the Walden community, also located in Mechanicsburg.
At the Arcona location, I was met with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and friendly baristas. I looked out the window and could see a village green of sorts complete with red Adirondack chairs. This coffeehouse is in a prime location as many events are held nearby and a pizza shop is right next door.
What I liked about this place was the iced matcha latte I ordered and the relative amount of silence. A few people milled around, but the noise was not a distraction. The beauty of a sound acoustical system. I also liked that the space was, for lack of a better term, spacious. I didn’t feel cramped.
What I didn’t like were the lack of comfy seating and trees and the majority of the outdoor seating was not covered. Given the newness of the development, the lack of foliage is to be expected, so I’m hoping this will change. Overall, the setting was not as picturesque as the one at the Walden location and it seemed that I was visiting a coffeeshop in the middle of nowhere. There was no character and it felt sterile. The richness of experience is very important to a writer.
My Writerly Grade: B
