The One Essential Strategy to Conquer Burnout, pt. 2

Do More of What Fills You Up

Hi everyone, welcome back to Conquering Burnout!

So, in the last newsletter, I talked about the first part of the most simple and basic strategy that we can implement in our life to master burnout: to do less of what drains you.

In this newsletter, I’ll explore the second part of the formula:

“Do More of What Fills You Up”.

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So, as I explained in the previous newsletter, the simplest definition of burnout is 

“Your output is greater than your input.” 

When you put out more than you put in and when your output of energy and resources is greater than your input, you slowly drain your energy stores and battery life, and you over time end up empty - burnt out. 

So based on that, the first step is to become aware and identify things that drain you and empty your energy stores and then minimize those things or eliminate them completely from your life - again, I talked more about this in my previous article.

But that’s not enough. To optimize your energy, well-being, and master burnout, you also have to add in and do more things that give you energy and fill you up.

Let’s explore this more in detail.

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Things That Bring Us Energy and Fill Us Up

1. Quality Food and Nutrition

The first and most basic thing that brings us energy and fills us up is quality food and nutrition.

Food is our fuel, our money in the bank account, the energy in our batteries, and our Energy Points in the Energy Budget. Without food, we wouldn’t have the fuel and energy to live and do everything we do. 

But it’s not enough to just eat whatever and just get enough fuel and energy in the form of calories. 

The food and calories we consume should be high-quality: we should aim for whole, natural, minimal processed foods and avoid high-processed, modern foods.

Doing so, we not only ensure that we get enough energy and don’t cause extra inflammation in our bodies that will require and suck energy but also get enough nutrients - macro-, and micronutrients - which will enable our body to produce more energy from the food that we eat.

The topic of nutrition is quite complex, but if I could give you a couple of tips on how to optimize your diet would be to focus on whole foods, cut out processed foods, junk food, and vegetable oils, and include as many different foods in your everyday diet as possible (more different foods = more nutrients).

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2. Quality Rest and Sleep

The second and also one of the most basic things that bring us energy and fill us up is quality rest and quality sleep. 

Rest is of huge importance for our optimal well-being. During quality rest and quality sleep, our body goes into restorative and rest and digest mode where it recovers its energy: It’s like plugging your phone after a full day of usage to recharge its batteries. 

Sleep, especially, is crucial — poor and low-quality sleep won’t recharge us and provide us with enough energy which we will need and use throughout the day.

Some easy and basic stuff that you can do to improve your sleep quality is to reduce your caffeine intake and limit it to 6-8 hours prior to your bedtime, cool down your bedroom and keep it dark, limit blue light exposure prior to bed, be active and exercise during the day, do some mindfulness exercise, look into supplements, etc. 

If you can’t get enough quality sleep during the night, naps, napping, deep meditations, yoga nidra, and non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) are a life-saver to super-charge your energy levels during the day.

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3. Joy, Passion & Purpose

The next things that bring us energy and fill us up are Joy, Passion & Purpose.

This is in my opinion and for me personally one of the most important things: doing things that we like, enjoy doing and feel a strong sense of passion and purpose for, will create energy and fill us up. 

Even though those activities require some energy from us like any other thing, we don’t end up with a negative energy balance because that energy circles back to us and fills us up. 

That’s why when we do things with joy, a sense of passion, and purpose we feel like we’re not even using any energy and we even feel more full and energized afterwards.

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4. Lifestyle, Mindset, and “Spiritual” Practices

There are also some lifestyle, mindset, and spiritual practices that bring us energy and fill us up

Lifestyle can have a huge impact on our energy budget. Spending time in nature, being around people that makes us feel good, turning off our phones and social media, taking a break or a sabbatical to disconnect completely - all of these things can be a huge energy charger.

We can also take advantage of some of the simple mindset and “spiritual” practices such as mindfulness and meditation, gratitude, forgiveness or self-love practice. 

It may not seem as much, but these easy, small, and simple practices can make a huge difference in providing us with some extra energy and battery life.

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But that’s not all. In the last newsletter, I talked about how there are not just things that drain us but also things that speed up energy consumption. There are also things that slow down our energy consumption and are vital for limiting our energy consumption and mastering burnout. 

Let’s explore them.

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Things That Slow Down Energy Consumption

1. Rest and Digest Mode

The first thing that slows down energy consumption is the so-called “Rest and Digest Mode (RnD)”

The Rest & Digest Mode is the opposite of the Fight or Flight Mode (ForF). When we’re in the Rest and Digest Mode, our body doesn't produce stress hormones but produces the feel-good hormones, chemicals, and neurotransmitters - serotonin, GABA, and dopamine - which not only slow down the consumption of energy but also create energy. 

As the name implies, the Rest & Digest Mode also puts the body in “rest and restorative mode” where it can heal, rejuvenate and replenish our Energy Budget.

We can get into rest and digestion mode by practicing mindfulness and meditation, doing breathwork, spending time in nature, spending time with people we love, playing, laughing, etc. 

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2. Mindfulness and Meditation

Then the next thing that slows down energy consumption is mindfulness and meditation.

Practicing mindfulness and meditation helps us get less reactive to things and stimuli. When we are less reactive, we can better control our central nervous - whether we go into ForF or rest in RnD mode - how much energy activities consume from us and we can better manage our mental response to triggers which also helps slow down the consumption of energy.

There are a ton of ways how to practice mindfulness and meditation, but it’s more important to make room and time for it and schedule it in our everyday lives. In our modern world and busy lives, unfortunately, often if we don’t schedule things and more room for them in our everyday life, there’s a high chance that life will get in the way.

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3. Joy, Passion & Purpose

The last thing that can slow down energy consumption is doing things with a sense of joy, passion, and purpose.

Doing things that we like and enjoy doing not only gives us energy but also slows down the consumption of energy. 

It’s partly because the feelings of joy, passion, and purpose produce fewer stress hormones and more of the feel-good chemicals and neurotransmitters, which not only create energy but also slow down the consumption of energy.

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That’s it for this two-part series about energy management: I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. If you did, please leave a like on this post, comment, or share it with others.

Also, if you’d be interested in how to apply this formula and principle described in these two articles in your own everyday life, let me know and I’ll make it happen!