Burnt Out

Have you ever experienced the feeling of being burnt out after doing something for so long that the feeling of being sick to the stomach lingers from doing it? That tiredness from just going through the motion and not even sure why you’re doing it in the first place? I know that feeling well. I remember that feeling from high school. In high school I sat through maybe 6 hours of class to then deal with 3-4 hours of doing homework for the next day to be same process for week on end. At this point I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to do after school. All I knew was that I wanted to attend college but was unsure what to do when I was there so it felt like I might just waste my time.

So, I did the only thing I could think of. I took a break.

I strongly recommend this idea to any person that has that same tired energy before or even during college. This break helped me in so many ways that even when it was done, I don’t regret ever doing it.

Now I am not saying that during the break I did nothing during that time. If anything, I did a lot more things compared to going to high school. This break allowed me to experience many different things that I might have missed if had gone to school right after graduation. I was able to do work where I helped people to then work to then work at places where that wasn’t even a part of the job. After I worked for some people managing money and other assets, I realized that type of stuff interests me. This type of experience allowed me to find a path that I wanted to go down that made sense for me. The one thing I always wanted to avoid was making a call on what type of career I wanted to do by rushing into it without even knowing if I liked it or not.

There are many types of careers to fit every specific person. One doesn’t need to attend college to find that career, but having the college experience can allow for them to experience the career without working there yet. The more experience one gets can lead to them finding the right path for themselves. Rushing onto that path can lead to major hurdles in the future.

 I feel people that have a hard time deciding on a career path and tend to rush into decisions for their careers that lead them to making a wrong call. Usually, this wrong call can lead to one having to waste even more that can be sued to find the right career for them. It is also possible that they can never find that type of path as well and just be stuck with that feeling of being burnt out. It is hard to find that path. My advice on the matter is don’t be afraid to take it slow. Allow oneself to get rid of that burnt out feeling and experience new things. Find the path that you want to follow and don’t have that feeling like what was done was a waste of time.

During the break from schooling, I was unsure if I even wanted to go back. I felt scared that I wasn’t ready for school anymore or that I wasn’t cut out to do the work again. I was also scared that it was going to take even more time for me to start my career, but ultimately, I decided that the more time being scared of it would also lead to even more time from starting my career. The first step I decided to complete was take 1 or 2 classes to make sure I was ready for it. My thought process was to just ease my way back into school. I was already taking the slow path, so no reason to start rushing now. After those classes, I took more classes where I was led to the point where I had a full-time student worth of them. Heck I’m planning to try for a few more years to get a higher degree and try to get some work in-between. The break gave me the energy needed to feel motivated to sign up for more work.

Taking a break doesn’t mean one is doing nothing. It just means they are trying something new.  One doesn’t even have to stop going to school for the break. They can lessen the amount of schooling they do so they can try something new. Take me for example, I was able to try out fly fishing for the first time during of these breaks and found I liked it. All that matters is that the feeling of being burnt out is lessened. Because if that feeling lingers for too long, it can lead to many problems for ones health. We know when we need breaks. If we didn’t, why would we need sleep? That’s the body form of a break. Getting started on ones career is important, but remember we have all the time in the world to do that. So, try not to rush it and just enjoy the time while making sure the path you are on is the one for you. All that matters is that one watches to see if they need that break or not, and to make sure to take it before that feeling of being burnt out breaks them.