Burnout Unraveled Part 1: Introducing a 4-Part Weekly Series
Burnout is common, and we can address it - in ourselves and those we care about. We discuss Identification, Prevention/Reduction, and Recovery as we begin this 4-part series.
// This is an entry in the "War to Writing" series. 'W2W' chronicles stories and lessons learned from my military career until beginning my Substack journey in November of 2024. //
If we spent the last several months pouring a foundation here, today we start going vertical.
Looking forward to a new quarter, it feels like a new beginning here to me. While trying to avoid trite comparisons to spring, it is time for something new. Because I’m a bit of a contrarian, I thought April might be a good month to write a series on “Grief.”
Upon further thought, that seemed even a bit much for me, so if 24 days of thoughts on "Burnout" sounds entertaining, keep reading.
Over the last four months, my posts felt like pouring a foundation1…. but each week has been like “a box of chocolates” or “potpourri” with no idea what was next. This month we’ll change that.
April will bring a series on “Burnout.”
After months of introspective thought, soul searching, and writing here on Substack, “Burnout” seems like the best word to describe what drove me to write here in the first place.
Those who experience Burnout come from many different walks of life and experience Burnout for different reasons and in different ways. Still, it seems there are many common threads with the struggle.
Over the next few weeks, I am going to pull at a few of those threads and see if we can find some healing or perspective about “Burnout.”
Additionally, I am going to add another layer to this series and provide daily Substack notes with daily thoughts and simple exercises addressing “Burnout.”
This month is going to be different here.
Let’s go! 8^)
24 Day “Burnout” Marathon
When I first started writing here last November I made a commitment to “post something every Saturday” - and I kept it.
Now I want to make another promise.
The first was open-ended and is still ongoing. This new one is a finite project for the month of April.
Starting Monday, April 7th, I will post a Substack note every day until the end of the month.2
This means 24 notes in 24 days. Each of them will mention a specific focus of the day - a thought or an activity or exercise of some sort — regarding this series on Burnout.
If it is an activity or exercise, it should not take much time — less than 5 minutes — ideally more like 30 seconds. The idea is to have a little bit of time for some quick reflection or perhaps a deep thought, without adding extra “chores” or “chaos” to the day.3
If you choose to follow along, I hope you find something insightful, healing, or otherwise helpful.
I invite you to comment on the notes and posts, or connect with other subscribers in our chat room. If you have questions or things you would like me to tackle, please add them as well!
Feel free to send me a DM here or an email ( jofty@substack.com ) if you’d like to let me know you’re following along this month without making any public comments. 8^)
Burnout Series: Identify, Prevent/Reduce, Recover
This month’s series will address three main facets of Burnout: Identify, Prevent/Reduce, and Recover. I will share some personal stories from my burnout experience and some research I’ve found along the way.
Identify
My Air Force career provided many opportunities to identify signs of Burnout. I pretty much missed ‘em all at the time, but many are clear in hindsight.
The first day back from leave - was the first big sign I should have noticed.
Autobahn freeze - A story about a moment I knew “something” was wrong
Need to stop caffeine - When I had to remove caffeine from my life, there were signs burnout was approaching… or here.
Anxiety started to peak - As retirement loomed, it felt unnaturally intense, but I figured it was just part of the process of upending our lives and everything else with the retirement and move.
At some point I realized I was constantly giving full effort but achievement was low. I was simply ineffective, and unable (or unwilling) to take a break. Basically, I was at full throttle but unable to achieve lift.
Prevent / Reduce
This feels like my biggest blind spot. In fairness, I don’t think I did a very good job at this or the ID part when I was going through it. What I lack in fruitful practice here I will attempt to tackle with more research. :)
Work/Life balance - find one and prioritize it.
If you identify burnout approaching, try to step back and reevaluate your options. I will try to answer “What do I wish I had done differently? “
Prioritize breaks. What works for you? Road trips? Beaches? Books?
Recover
Everyone’s recovery path will be different, but I will share what I’ve learned (so far) from mine. The following are some ideas I believe we’ll explore.
Recovery can be lengthy - I’ve heard 2 years is a common starting timeline. I think I may have inadvertently touched on that in my "2 Years in a Blink” missive.
Timeline - I’ll put together a visual of what my experience has been and highlight past and likely future missives to expand on the story.
“Go, Go, Go” mentality didn't work - Jul - Oct '23 — As we were settling in to our new home, or trying to, I was pushing hard to maintain a “stay busy” mindset. That didn’t work well.
Vocational Rehabilitation - Nov ‘23 - Mar '24 — I made a concerted effort to become employable. The big challenge: the people "helping me" could provide little actual assistance. The vast majority of what they did I could already and still do, but where I had challenges they were not trained, equipped, or organizationally configured to assist - or even understand. My resume looked great, I could typically manage decent conversations in meetings, but my struggles were simply not visible to others. At the time, they were pretty foggy to me as well. :)
"The Interview" - Mar - Jun '24 — I didn’t know how “out of touch” I was.
My First Attempt At Solitude - Jun ‘24 — Two nights alone at a cabin in the woods wasn’t as relaxing as I’d hoped… but it was instructive.
Looking Inward for Survival - Jul - Nov '24 — As I started thinking about writing, a couple former colleagues and an old friend helped me realize I could write to recover better — for myself and my family.
As the path before us here comes into focus, it seems “my story” will be told in three main parts. “War to Writing” will mostly focus on Burnout, and starts in earnest, today.
Mindset Update — Why the format change?
Something changed last week.
I’ve spent most of the last week trying to put my finger on it, but it’s a feeling I simply don’t have words to describe. Something just feels “right” about what I’ve written here so far… about the overall structure of the foundation I’ve laid or poured.
If one of my main jobs here is to “make the complex simple” I feel like last week I finally got enough ‘complexity’ on the table4 that I can address concepts and simply reference back to those and smooth out most of the rough edges of my communication style.
It feels like it is time to move forward by tackling a single serious topic in depth, at a pace to allow for a decent understanding on the first pass. I hope you enjoy the ride. :)
Next week: How to Identify Burnout
I hope you have a pleasant week! If you join us on notes or chat for the daily Burnout thoughts, I’ll see you there starting Monday.
Until next time, take care.
- jofty 8^)
To avoid muddling metaphors, this is like we’re following a new guidepost. It says “Burnout”, and we're gonna take that exit and hang out for a little while.
What we're going to find when we get there is a rough cut grass field with a fresh cement slab and a pile of construction material.
Through the month of April, we'll build our first little structure called "Burnout" on the foundation we discussed last week in "Weaving a Tapestry of Healing."
I didn’t expect “Burnout” to be the first ‘structure’ we build here, but hey, that’s where we are. ;p
I write out this promise to be accountable, but I’m not going to make this a “SMART Goal.” As I said in my first live stream, I won’t repackage Air Force training into death-by-PowerPoint here. BUT, in case you’re curious, here’s a link to a quick explanation of a SMART goal. :)
Last week I tried a day with no screens or digital audio before 0900. I instinctively checked the time and a couple notifications, and automatically turned on the radio when my daughter got out of the car at school, but otherwise it went well!
Quick links for new readers:
I discussed why I write.
I've established a few guardrails for writing here.
I discussed what I think it means to be authentic.
I've examined some of my biases.
We’ve gained a more robust understanding of Empathy.