SELF-CARE: Avoiding Burnout and Caring for Each Other.
I went to sleep at 9pm last night. I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay up and party with @sircork on the @steemstarnetwork, and play with friends from #thealliance, #isleofwrite, and #steemsugars.
I wanted to get a post or two out yesterday, as well. I couldn’t do it.
I had to lay down. (Not on a rock in an ocean, but this is a nice photo, isn’t it?)
Take care of yourself so you don’t burn out.
Yesterday @meanmommy33 put up a post saying she might need to take a break. She’s been going hard on Steemit (and life in general) for 9 months, heading the Steemsugars discord as well.
I’ve only been at it for a month and a half, and I’m feeling the fatigue. (Then again, I’m a mom of young children, so I’m always tired.)
I’m also feeling the love, big-time! I’ve made such incredible friends, I don’t want to stop playing on discord or reading your posts. Y’all are amazing!
At the same time, it’s important to have “me” time, which is already scarce considering I have twin toddlers. It’s important to get out into nature, to spend quality time with family. Maybe even hang out with “real-life” friends.
Another friend, @sykochica, was the first person I chatted with on Discord, a few days into my Steemit adventure. Hearing her voice made everything more real for me. In fact, she gave me some EXCELLENT wisdom that has helped me a lot: she said there’s so much to read, you miss stuff. And basically, she made me feel okay about missing things. I stress a lot less about it, accepting that you seriously cannot get to everyone’s posts, even the people I adore.
@sykochica recently took a couple weeks off, and I was starting to wonder if she was okay. Lo and behold, she did a post just when I was about to DM her and check in, and when I saw her in the LGBT server, she said she periodically takes a week or two away from Steemit. For sanity. For self-care.
This is smart. I think everyone needs to step back from time to time, even if just for an evening, or a day.
A few ideas to avoid burnout:
- GET ENOUGH SLEEP!
- Drink plenty of water.
- Eat nourishing food.
- Exercise.
- Spend time in nature.
- Did I mention getting enough sleep? Oh yes. I did. ;)
Rest up, my friends!
Like I said, I was out around 9pm last night. I couldn’t function any longer.
Often, I see friends on Discord at all hours, wherever you are in the world, and I care about you! I know some of you don’t get enough sleep, or enough nourishing food.
I think about you and hope you’re okay.
Yes, you’re adults. You make your own decisions. I know many of you are working on super important things (@sircork, @youarehope, and many others), and serving your families worldwide (@topkpop, @saffisara, @enginewitty, @battleaxe, and so many more).
Maybe I’m being too much of a mom, but I wish y’all would sleep more.
Sometimes we need to say, “No,” to put up boundaries. @battleaxe wrote a great post about not always saying “Yes.” This is so worth a read!
Saying "No" is hard for me. I want to say YES to so much, but I have to say NO often these days, otherwise I’ll fall down, go boom.
There are no days off as a mother, so I am forced to take care of myself. It’s a good thing. We all run into a wall, sometimes. Try to rest before you do.
Restorative yoga is a great thing, too… Maybe I’ll do a post about that one of these weeks.
photo: Nat Anfield
Taking care of each other.
All of this said, it’s also important to take care of each other.
@youarehope is doing A LOT to serve people in the world. Please, if you care about human beings in poverty, if you care about orphans, please go to @youarehope and give as large of an upvote as you can, or send a donation.
Listen to a replay of the latest You are H.O.P.E. town hall to learn more about the work this charity is doing.
If you see someone struggling personally — sad, tired, depressed, whatever — reaching out can make a big difference. Feeling alone is so hard! It compounds any other issues that are happening.
Exercise self-care for yourself so you can also care for others. This is a simple concept, but how many of us follow it?
Whatever you need to do for yourself, be sure to make it a priority.
Take care of yourself. You are a gift!
Peace. @katrina-ariel
Banner courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
I love knowing you already, new kid :D
<3
Thank you for the kind words, advice, and mothering. I need all of them!
Love this!
Likewise. 💖 I'm so glad you're okay with the mothering thing. I always feel a little bad saying "Hey, did you sleep yet?" to you and others, 'cause you can take care of yourself, but I can't help it. lol! And, anyway, I need self-care reminders, too. I think we all do. ((hugs))
He lies, @kattrina-ariel! He does not sleep and does not know how to care for himself. He needs all the mothering he can get. :)
lol! I know he doesn't sleep, @dswigle, and I believe he ate a pizza sometime this weekend, which might have been it for food. I'll do my best to mother him from the other side of the continent without being a pest. ;-)
I'm sure he will love it. He is tired of my overmothering. ;)
ladies ladies please. One at a time. There's plenty of me to go around. I can use a bunch of moms just to be clear I am not waving my rights so you can't ground me though
lol! I felt bad talking about you like you weren't there, actually. Gentle mothering, perhaps? No grounding. I don't even want to have to ground my own kids... I have twin boys who are already a lot of work at age 3 (they're really good kids, but still). Imagine when they're teenagers?! I am in so much trouble. ;-)
So much love and caring in this post. I was also down before 9 PM yesterday, I know what you are talking about here.
We need to talk about this, so many people today gets overwhelmed by all the opportunities in life and I think that we interact with so many people that we feels like we have to do things for everyone as well.
Some chilling and downtime is necessary to survive. Thanks for caring and I hope you take care of you as well <3
Im stuck in that interacted, yer my friend, now i gotta do all the things, rut. And it compounds like interest on a credit card, one leads to two leads to four... it's overwhelming at times. But I love em all anyway.
Yes, that is the great part of it. All the love and joy :-)
YES to love and joy! And a big YES to sleep, too. You make some good points, @kerlund74, and I think we do need to keep the discussion rolling, to remind each other it's okay to take a step back, to not always be "on." Glad you got some sleep! And, you're welcome. I do care. A lot! ((hugs))
Good for you for taking a breather. It's important to look after yourself first. That said....I partied with @sircork :)
It was fun partying with you for a while, too! I meant to come back after I put my kids to bed. lol! Didn't happen. Glad you had fun! Thanks for the encouragement. :)
you are right @jfolkmann
I was on the steemstar network I think it was sunday really enjoyed it my favourite show is Cabinet of curiosities. cant wait for the next show.
Its really interesting what you said about resting up because today I had no option due to bad snow, no internet and no tv. So I discovered some adult colouring books I had bought and forgotten about. Which took me on a route of researching about art therapy.
I recieved a lovely comment on my post yesterday from @sykochica who I have messaged but I think she might be sleeping now. I have also joined the LGBT community looking forward to getting to know you.
Sometimes life makes us rest, eh? When I was having bandwidth issues, I took that as a hint that I should go do something else for a while. lol! Good to meet you! :)
By the way, thanks for mentioning the Cabinet of Curiosities! I forgot to give a shout out to the amazing @lenadr, who hosts that show and was co-hosting the party I missed 'cause I hit the bed early. I haven't heard her show yet but I need to, for sure!
Oh you ae welcome, if you are into the weird and wonderful, then I would recommend listening to it for sure. Plus @lenadr is an awesome kind host, the show on Sunday is about Ghosts.
Yer makin' me blush. :) This Sunday's show is going to be SCARY!! MUAHAHA
Thank you so much! There's another party going on tonight. Hope to see you there!!
Thank you so much! There's another party going on tonight. Hope to see you there!!
Encouragement on self care seems to be something I practically always need! Thanks :)
Me too, Lily. I need these reminders constantly! :)
All. of. this. What a lovely, well-written reminder. Doing freelance I think it can especially be hard to remember self-care because you never really leave “the office” (i.e. there is no distinction between your work phone and your personal phone)! Needed to read this today in the midst of a busy day. :)
OMG this! It's why I burnt out as a yoga instructor. I always felt like I should be doing promo, or putting out content. Freelancing is hard. You gotta set boundaries. Take care of you. ;)
I’ve noticed a couple of people as of late have been talking about or dealing with burn out. Many of them seem to be daily bloggers sometimes putting out two or more a day.
For the average users on Steemit it should be about fun and not heavy focused on generate a revenue source. It’s ok to take days off or not get that “important” blog up out this moment.
I don't focus on trying get a blog out 7 days a week and i try and make weekends more about other things focusing on shorter to create content.
Oddly enough my goals for steemit are to only get 3 blogs out a week and i comfortably meet those goals.
Realistic goals are great. I'm an overachiever, so I set myself up for it, but I've dealt with burnout so many times in different arenas that I don't stress too much if I don't get a post up every day. Sometimes I don't have to focus for it, so I work on curation, or just enjoy community on Discord. But I tend to stay up too late. Sleep is good. Thanks for your comment!
I am going to be off for the next few weeks taking a much-needed vacation. Burn out is so easy to do when you don't give yourself a break.
I always hate missing the fun, but, what good am I to others when I can't help my own self?
Take good care of yourself. You are too fun to forget! :)
Aw, thank you! I try to put self-care first. Or at least third. ;) Burn out is too easy. I'm glad to hear you're taking a vacation. Have a wonderful break. You deserve it!
Thanks for sharing your self-care experience. What I love about Steemit is that the blogging... at least for me is more free and organic. I get inspired in those spaces where I'm out for a walk or taking time for myself, and can't help but share the inspiration. So maybe it's those spaces of self-care that can really be fuel for progress on Steemit.
I totally agree! I used to blog about a narrow range of subjects, but now I feel so free to write about anything. It's wonderful! :)
This is just what I needed to hear. It's impossible to be everywhere at once. I love Steemit so much that I'm neglecting my housework haha! So today I'm making it a cleaning day only (except for right now at 5:30 am, who cleans then?) Not burning my candle at both ends though. Besides, Steemit and discord are always there when we come back, they aren't going to disappear on us. 🤗 Hope you got the rest you needed!! 🙂
Wise words. "They're not going to disappear on us." I have this problem with always wanting to do things NOW. lol! Taking a step back is something I'm still working on. ;)
I totally understand, I'm still working on it too haha! :)