Day 2: Getting Over Burnout in a Week (and Still Getting Work Done)

Note: This is Day 2 of my Getting Over Burnout in a Week (and still getting work done) program you can find here. It includes 7 days worth of energizing activities and skill building to prevent burnout in the future. and Day 2 includes skill building; how to relax yourself!

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Today I participated in a science based team quiz event. I enjoyed studying for it and preparing my team as the ‘senior’ (core high school experience.)

As we sat and waited for the quiz to start I felt a intense nervousness come over me. It felt like every muscle in my body, every nerve and every bone over heated and somehow felt nauseated.

It wasn’t a very big deal because it was an intra-school inter house competition so even if we lost (which we did btw, just 15) it wouldn’t be that bad. Yet, this feeling was hard to get over till I tried box breathing. Box breathing is when you inhale for 4s, hold for 4s, exhale for 4s, hold 4s and repeat. And I calmed down. It wasn’t instant but within 30 seconds of engaging in box breathing I was able to calm down my racing heart, cheer up my team and focus.

Benefits of Box Breathing

Box breathing can be useful in many situations such as:

• It can help you cope with panic and stress when feeling overwhelmed. Counting helps to take the focus from the panic-producing situation enabling you to handle and control your response.

• Helps you to sleep when you are having insomnia.

• Helps to control hyperventilation as you can instruct your lungs to breathe rhythmically.

• Helps you refocus when you are having a busy or stressful day.

• Eases panic and worry.

• Keeps you calm while preparing for the day.

• When making a big decision.

• Lowers blood pressure and decreases Cortisol — a stress hormone — which can improve your mood.‌

(taken from WebMD)

Apart from box breathing, another activity that has an immediate calming effect on our body is cold exposure. Cold exposure really helps regulate your nervous system and make you feel more collected. A cold shower or even splashing your face is a perfect quick remedy.

And lastly, a extremely stressed UPON point is physical movement and being within nature. I didn’t sit down much today, I kept walking around from desk to desk in the library engaging with the team and it kept me sane during an influx of information. I feel as if it is unnecessary to even mention studies on physical movement and its numerous health benefits but here’s one to humour you!

These skills take a while to integrate into your system so you can’t really expect to become a monk that never shows any sign of stress within a week. This course just wants to give YOU the tools to manage your burnout sessions.

And remember, never let yourself get to the point of complete and total breakdown!

Love,

Vanta <3