Burnout

Perfection. It is a noble goal, but one that can lead to unforeseen consequences. As a student, there was always a clear goal: to graduate with good grades. When I started working that goal changed. I could no longer rush towards the finish line, because retirement is a very long way away. Therefore my strategy of doing whatever it takes to get the job done backfired. I kept imposing unrealistic expectations on myself and working a lot of overtime. This led to an extreme work-life imbalance. I used to dread going to work every morning. I felt exhausted, stressed and unmotivated by my job. I was burned out.

Burnout is a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion that can affect your health, happiness and performance. As I burned out, my productivity and quality of my work decreased. I stopped having the energy to do anything. My physical and mental health declined.

I knew I had to make a change. I wanted to enjoy my work again. I wanted to have more flexibility and freedom. I had to change my mindset. Instead of living to work, I began working to live.

I focused more on taking walks, being out in nature, and focusing on taking time for myself. Even though I was working less, I was accomplishing more, gaining experience also helped. It felt like I was able to move through my tasks quicker and with more autonomy, which greatly helped improve my mental health at work.

During this time, I thought about how nice it would be to be able to work from anywhere. Working from anywhere means having the freedom and flexibility to choose where, when and how you work. It can offer many benefits, but it is not easy. It requires discipline, organization and communication skills. You have to set clear goals and expectations with yourself; create a comfortable and ergonomic workspace that suits your needs; establish a regular schedule.

I would day dream of being able to work from anywhere. I would rise early in a beautiful location, perhaps somewhere tropical. I would take a walk on the beach, enjoy breakfast, and then … Well to be honest that is where the daydream stopped. I realized that what I was day dreaming about was not actually working from anywhere, but rather a vacation. This was one of the biggest realizations about the difference between school and work, there are no breaks. Nobody is going to tell you it is a good time to use your vacation time and there are not any pre-scheduled long breaks. Instead you have to decide when you want to go away and take a vacation, you have to decide when it is time to take a break.