Last year I pushed myself too hard and I suspect burnout was at least partly responsible. So I’ve been spending time researching strategies to battle burnout.
Not taking the time to rest was one factor that really stood out. I’m experimenting with making rest a part of my time management. I’ve been dedicating at least one weekend every month that is for pure leisure. I’ll read a book, play a game, visit friends. Maybe I’ll just spend it sleeping. It doesn’t really matter, it just has to be something enjoyable and relaxing. It seems to be working really well. But it also occurs to me that this simply may not be realistic long term. Most people don’t have the luxury to just periodically take a few days off. I’m fortunate to have this privilege right now, but for how long. So I’ve been looking for more practical strategies, and I think I may have found one.
I recently participated in the Google Foobar challenge. It really was a challenge. It was actually quite a lot of work. But it didn’t feel like work. It felt like leisure. Because the challenge was also entertaining. The problems were super satisfying to work through, they had a hilarious story line accompanying each problem, it was genuinely fantastic fun. And yet it was also really hard work. I refreshed my skills in numerous areas, and also learned some entirely new ones. It was useful work, it was valuable training, and yet it was almost entirely fun too.
Time will always need to be set aside for training and development, but what if I could make that time double as leisure time? So I’m going to start creating tasks that will serve as a refresher for old skills, that will teach me new ones, but that will also be fun. Tasks that can serve as leisure time while simultaneously acting as training and development. It seems so obvious in hindsight. I’m already a big fan of generating tasks that solve multiple goals, but I’ve never thought to do this before. Better late than never; burnout begone!
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