How To Avoid Summer Fatigue and Burnout?
Embrace the Summer Energy and Avoid Burnout With These Tips
As the summer season kicks into high gear, it's essential to find a balance between seizing the opportunities for fun and relaxation while avoiding early summer burnout and fatigue.
In this newsletter, I share valuable insights and practical tips to help you make the most of your summer while maintaining your energy levels and well-being.
Let's dive in!
1. Adjust Your Lifestyle and Mindset
Due to rising temperatures, high humidity, and longer days, early summer can be quite challenging and demanding for our bodies.
With longer days and warmer weather, it's tempting to pack our schedule to the brim, but we cannot beat Mother Nature: every season has its scope and place for our lives and the world that we live in.
Evolutionarily, autumn and winter are periods in the year to calm down, rest, sleep, and rejuvenate, spring is then the season of rebirth and growth, and then summer is a time of stagnation and time to reap the fruits of labor. That’s why we need to adjust not only our lifestyle but also our mindset accordingly.
During summer, it's crucial to prioritize more rest and rejuvenation in your everyday life.
Do less physical and mentally demanding tasks. Engage in activities that relax your mind, such as reading, and meditation. Spend time in nature. Incorporate mindfulness into your summer routine by taking short breaks throughout the day to pause, breathe, and reset.
On the mindset part, lower the expectation and mental pressures. Don’t expect yourself to be as productive as you might have been during spring and don’t put so much pressure on yourself to work hard and accomplish a million things.
Something magical happens when you lower the expectation of yourself and let go of the results and outcomes: the more we want something to happen, the less likely we are to actually achieve it.
Rest is also an investment for the future: the more we rest and recharge, the more we’ll be able to get done and accomplish in the future you able be able or have to.
2. Stay Hydrated
Rising temperatures also demand extra attention to hydration and nutrition.
Dehydration is one of the primary reasons for fatigue and can lead to diminished cognitive function and burnout. When we sweat and lose fluids during hot summer days, we lose water, electrolytes, and minerals, so replenishing all of them is essential for preventing fatigue and burnout.
How much water and fluids we need depends on several factors: gender, age, weight, activity, season, sweating, etc.
As a guide for optimal water and fluid intake, we can help ourselves in two ways.
The first way is with the hydration formula for the basic daily water and fluid intake:
30-40 ml per 1 kg of body weight or 0,45-0,6 oz. per 1 lb of body weight.
So someone who weighs 70 kg (155 lbs) should drink 2,1-2,4L of fluid (ideally water) per day. Also in case of heavy sweating, warmer weather, or being highly active, add to that number another 0,5 to 1L.
We can also orient ourselves with the color of urine. The darker the color of our urine is, the more dehydrated we are (see the chart below).
Tips on how to stay hydrated:
Keep a water bottle handy and ensure you're drinking enough fluids throughout the day.
Add minerals and electrolytes to your diet: the most important minerals and sodium (Na, found in salt), potassium (K, found in bananas, avocados, …), and magnesium (Mg, found in dark and leafy vegetables, dark chocolate, …).
Drink more sparkly water since it contains minerals and electrolytes
Add electrolytes mix drinks: opt for electrolyte mixes and sports drinks that don’t contain sugar unless you’re using them during or after heavy physical activity. My favorite electrolyte mix drink is this one called Nuun.
3. Cool Down
During the scorching summer months, it's essential to find ways to cool down our bodies to prevent summer fatigue and burnout.
Hydration plays a vital role in maintaining optimal body temperature, so like we said make sure to stay hydrated and also opt for refreshing beverages like ice-cold water, infused water with slices of fruits, or chilled herbal teas.
You can also incorporate cool meals into your diet, such as salads, chilled soups, and fresh fruits, which can help lower your body temperature.
For an instant cooling effect, consider taking cold showers or even indulging in an occasional ice bath. They will not only help you cool down but also make you and your immune system stronger and more vitalized.
Also, taking a dip in a swimming pool or natural body of water not only provides relief from the heat but also offers a full-body cooling experience.
So, embrace these strategies to beat the heat and keep your energy levels up during the summer season.
4. Embrace Mindful Rest
During summer another thing that suffers is our sleep.
You might experience that in the summer you don’t sleep as well as you normally do. Why is that so?
Our body releases melatonin, the sleep hormone, after sunset. Since summer days are very long and can last up to 9 pm (depending on where you live), by the time you’re ready to get to bed you might not have enough melatonin running in your system and your sleep will be compromised.
Another factor that contributes to sleep depth and quality is the temperature. Evolutionarily, our body has adapted to fluctuations in temperature between day and night. And again, since nights are evolutionarily cold and cool most of the year, we get the best and deeper sleep in lower temperatures.
So longer days plus warmer nights equal poorer sleep. And since we know that sleep is one of the most important things for our energy, well-being, and preventing fatigue and burnout, we have to find a way around that and improve our sleep.
You can improve your sleep by cooling down your bedroom and keeping it really dark and blocking out any light - that will help your body get into deep stages of sleep where it can recover, regenerate and replenish the energy.
Another great way to replenish lost and poor sleep is with naps.
Studies are showing that naps are just as important or even more important than a night's sleep and can be a great tool to decrease low-quality sleep or sleep debt. Besides that, naps also have a wide range of health and well-being benefits, including positive effects on heart disease, blood pressure, immune system and healing effects, creativity, mental well-being, and emotional stability.
Another great tool that is very similar to napping is the so-called Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) or Yoga Nidra.
Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) is a state of relaxation and rejuvenation that mimics the benefits of sleep without actually requiring individuals to fall asleep. NSDR involves engaging in activities such as meditation, mindfulness, deep breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques to induce a state of deep restfulness. By entering this state, you can experience the revitalizing effects typically associated with a good night's sleep, even if you haven't slept at all.
If you want to try NSDR our, check out Andrew Huberman’s video below:
5. Disconnect and Recharge
While technology keeps us connected, it's essential to unplug and allow ourselves moments of digital detox and summer is a great period to disconnect and recharge.
Constant connectivity can contribute to mental exhaustion. Designate tech-free zones or specific times during the day to disconnect from devices and focus on other enjoyable activities or spend quality time with loved ones.
Like I said above, engage in activities that relax your mind, spend time in nature, and incorporate short breaks throughout the day to pause, breathe, reset, and live summer to the fullest.
Summer is a wonderful time to relax, explore, and create lasting memories. By incorporating these tips into your routine, you can ensure a summer filled with joy, vitality, and balance and prevent early summer burnout and fatigue.
Take care of yourself, embrace the season's energy, and remember to listen to your body's needs.
Wishing you a vibrant and rejuvenating summer!
Good timing for this post. I really feel drained. Now I know it’s not just about me, but that this season requires more gentleness :)
Great tips, Jani! Have you also looking into hydration from the inside through metabolism? Like how healthy fat burning and ketosis release water inside the body. And how we also generate water through the electron transport chain inside our mitochondria, which can actually utilize electrons from the environment (swimming in a natural body of water, grounding our feet to the earth, getting sunlight--especially infrared sunlight while the sky is still red in the morning and evening) to create cellular water as part of the ATP cycle. This is particularly important as it creates charge-separated water (positive charge on one side and negative charge on the other) that can do particular work and boost our energy in ways the “bulk water” we drink cannot. See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526105/figure/article-20982.image.f1/?report=objectonly. Certain medications and environmental contaminants (from aspirin to certain cancer treatments to glyphosate) can interrupt the electron transport chain, so if “doing everything right” and still unable to hydrate/energize, looking into those other chemical problems might be worthwhile. At the same time, yes, summer can be a challenging time of year no less than deep winter!