The Focus Course

Now… continue on below to find out:

• Why Burnout happens
• What you can do about it (my favorite approach)

Is this you?

• You feel like you’re on the hamster wheel of hustle. You’re tired, unmotivated, and can’t see how your current activities will lead toward your desired outcomes. You’re running on empty.

• You’re struggling to give time and attention to the things that matter most. Burnout is exhausting. When your working hours are filled to the max, it’s difficult to do anything other than turn your brain off in the few free hours you can find.

  -It’s become more difficult to live out your values. If left unattended, burnout can change you. You know those Snickers commercials that say, “You’re not you when you’re hungry”? The same is true for burnout. You lose appreciation for activities that once brought you joy. You lose patience with loved ones. You lose motivation for the projects and goals you once highly valued.

• You’re just plain bored. Burnout doesn’t always lead to exhaustion. Sometimes apathy comes first.

You’re likely facing a blend of these common burnout symptoms. If you want to effectively treat them, you have to start by confronting their root cause.

Why burnout happens

It’s tempting to go for the easy answer here — you’re burnt out because you’re working too much. There’s just too much to get done. You’re burning the candle at both ends (or whatever other cliche you want to use to describe it) and you need a breather.

While that can be true, overwork isn’t the only cause of burnout. In fact, I’d say it’s not even the most common one.

The reality is, when we want to be super duper productive, we often think that speed and efficiency are what matter most. Thus we get stuck in a loop of doing, doing, doing…without ever pausing to do one simple thing:

Acknowledge our progress.

We become less productive when we don’t take time to appreciate and celebrate our wins. Even if they’re small!

The result is that you begin to feel like you’re on a hamster wheel, running on empty, feeling burnt out and overworked.

When you’re on a hamster wheel and you want to get off, is the solution to run faster? Of course not. You slow down, stop, and then turn to step in a different direction.

If you don’t want to stay stuck in place, it is critical to recognize and celebrate your progress.

One of my favorite ways to do this regularly is with something called Productivity Journaling.

Skeptical? Here are 3 reasons why it can make a big difference in the battle against burnout.

3 reasons why Productivity Journaling helps relieve burnout

1: It reminds you of the important work that matters

Right off the bat, I think the biggest advantage of a productivity journal is how it helps reinforce the right behaviors and actions you are doing.

You see, any time you set out to do something that is good, noble, important, or exciting, then you are guaranteed to encounter obstacles. Obstacles, therefore, mean you’re on the right track, which means the correct response should be to persevere and overcome.

Doing the right thing takes effort, so make space to recognize and celebrate your effort.

2: It boosts your motivation

When we see that we are making meaningful progress on the important work that matters, it gives us a boost of motivation to keep going.

3: It helps you get more efficient

Productivity journaling also helps you dial in your capacity of focused work.

I am a big fan of tracking and blocking my time. One of the biggest questions I get is: “how do I know how much time to allot to certain tasks?”

As you track your time and celebrate your big wins, you will begin to discover what you, personally, can get done in a set amount of time. Thus, you will improve and refine how you can manage and schedule your day going forward.

How to do Productivity Journaling

Keeping a “productivity journal” is as simple as writing down your wins for the day. It’s something that takes about five minutes, and it can include anything.

• How many words did you write?
• Did you make it on time to a meeting or appointment?
• Did you accomplish any of your most important tasks?
• Did you have an awesome conversation with someone?
• Did you spend time working on something important, even if you didn’t actually hit a specific milestone?
• Did you NOT do something?

Basically, you want to recognize and celebrate anything you did today that you want to do more of in the future. Reinforce the behaviors in your own life that move you in the direction you want to go.

Not sure where or how to get started?

Don’t overthink it! Try answering just one of these questions every day for a week:

• What was a highlight of my day today?
• What important tasks did I get done today?
• What is an idea I had?
• What is a meaningful conversation I had?

This simple practice has a subtle way of nudging you toward the work and activities that actually fulfill you. Give it a shot and see how you feel!