In this short interview, Speaker B explains that a key early warning sign of burnout is the paradox of heightened excitement about a big project combined with neglect of basic self‑care—skipping meals, sleep, and other essential needs. This pattern emerges before full burnout sets in. Speaker A and B emphasize that to counteract this, one should deliberately plan self‑care activities, such as scheduling breaks, meals, and restorative practices in the calendar alongside project tasks, ensuring that personal well‑being is treated as a non‑negotiable part of the work plan.
What are some like key indicators or what are some things that you see happen often that show that path to burnout?
I think firstly, before even burnout happens, a person is very excited about something. They have a big project, a big idea, lots of excitement, lots of emotion, lots of drive, and they start doing it. And then they start skipping meals, they start skipping sleep, they start skipping all these important things. And that's when, that's the warning sign. The first is when you're excited about something and you start planning it, you need to plan your self-care throughout it as well, right?
You need to put it in your calendar.
Yes. You know, when I first started my business, I used to, whenever I would have a big launch coming, I would book a massage. I would book a lunch with friends. I would book something that I cannot cancel because there's other people involved. And I am a recovering people pleaser. So I know I will go and make, I will take those breaks, but actually when I do take those breaks, I come back more, not only more rested and can do more, but actually more ideas. 'Cause you're, you always develop better ideas when you go away from a project you're working on. That's how brain works. So yeah, one, one thing I definitely say is plan, plan in advance. And when you see that you have an exciting project coming up. Second, notice if you start skipping on some of your basic Self-care. If you skip one lunch a month, it's okay. It shouldn't be, right? But it's okay. It can happen to somebody. But if you skip lunch a few days in a row or a few times a week, that's when you have to start paying attention. Why I'm doing this to myself?
