Steps to Beat the January Burnout

The New Year is the perfect time to kickstart a fresh new routine and be your most productive self. But while we commit to new year intentions, it’s also important not to expect too much and pile on the pressure to be our ‘best and most productive’ selves.

The Traffic Light System is a great way to gain control over your energy levels and prioritise what’s most important. To break it down simply, you divide your time into red activities, amber activities and green activities.

Red Activities: These take up a lot of your energy and leave you feeling exhausted. Activities include all day events, overworking without a break and intensive exercise.

Amber Activities: These are less strenuous and range from small errands and household chores to meeting a friend for lunch.

Green Activities: These are the most important and restorative activities and examples would be reading a book, doing some yoga or indulging in a favourite snack or treat.

Look at your day and identify where you are spending your energy and what types of activities you are doing. Try to do at least one green activity a day, whether it’s taking a bath, reading a book or a gentle stroll outside. If you are exhausted, try to limit the amount of red activities you do in a day and swap for green.

Think of your body like a bank account! You want to bank as much energy as possible so you can balance out the more demanding red activities.

Beat the burnout

1. Think about ways you can slow down in your life. Is it at home or work that leaves you feeling zapped of energy? How can you priorities your tasks or delegate to free up time?

2. Lean on other people to help. You might be surprised at how much people love to lend a helping hand. Whether it’s tasking a family member with the washing up at the weekends or simply asking a friend to listen to your thoughts and worries.

3. Look at your exercise routine: Maybe you’re overcommitting to an intense exercise routine that’s leaving you feeling drained of time and energy or on the flip side, you’re ready to introduce a little more gentle exercise in your life. Listen to what your body needs.

4. Sleep! Easier said than done but there are many tips and tricks to make drifting off that much easier. Try putting your phone on aeroplane mode from 8pm onwards, drinking a soothing herbal tea as part of your nighttime routine or using an app such as Calm or Headspace to listen to some sleep meditations and calm your mind.