Battling burnout | Recover from Fatigue, Overcome Brain Fog, Stress relief

18. 4 Steps to Ease Setbacks During and After Burnout

Having a setback can feel like a slap in the face. You're on your way back, you have hope of getting better, of getting well, and then you're just pushed straight down into that bottomless darkness. It's like a mockery, like someone wants to tell you not to believe that you can get well. The fear comes right away, and thougths like, maybe I can't get well? Maybe this will go on forever? And it feels like the setback will last forever.
But a setback can also feel like a gentle reminder to take it a little easier, something you shake off and with a few minor adjustments get out of. Today I'm going to talk about how I avoid that dark place of setbacks and crawl back on track. How I do to have fewer, milder and shorter setbacks.
 
Key takeaways
Setbacks will always happen, even if you do everything right. It's important not to get worried, lose hope, or throw out all your routines just because you have a setback. Setbacks come, but setbacks also go away. Things will get better again.
Review your routines. Do you do the things that make you better, like journaling, taking brakes, mindful movements? 
Question your to-do list. Do you really need to do everything, and with that deadline? Reframe it to remove things and prolong the dadlines.  
Give yourself more time for recovery, like breaks, reading, listening to music, pilates, forrest walks or yoga. Note that this podcast will take a short break for a couple of weeks. 

17. Best hacks to reduce overwhelm in everyday life

Have you ever been in need to make a decision, but been so overwhelmed that the decision feels impossible to make? Maybe standing in front of the toothpaste aile in the grocery store, unable to choose one of all the options? Or looking at your to-do list, unable to choose what to start with? Not to mention the decision of what to eat for dinner. Or do you have activities that you know you should do to feel better, but just doing them feels impossible? Today I want to share 2 tools that I use to reduce my overwhelm in those everyday situations, and make everyday life easier and run more smoothly.
 
Key takeaways
Every decision we make requires energy and willpower. The more decisions we make, the more energy is used, and eventually there is no energy left. By making as many decisions as possibbly into routines, you need to take fewer decisions, get energy over for better things and get rid of that overwhelm. 
Seccond guessing your healing process all the time gives doubt, fear and stress, which put the brain into high alert, worsening your symptoms like brain fog and overwhelm. By building a process to follow, trust it and stick with that, you can lower the stress on your brain, increasing your symptoms. 

16. Too much to do? Do this to relieve stress and shorten that to do list

Does it feel like your to-do list never ends? Like the more you do, the more you get to do? Like time and control are slipping out of your hands? It's a common feeling when there's too much going on in life. And the more you do, the worse off you'll be.
Today I'm going to talk about why we get more stressed when we're stressed, how the brain creates this vicious cycle. I'm also going to talk about how to break it and give concrete tools and examples to calm your brain and make your schedule more manageable.
 
Key takeaways
When we get stressed, activity in the irrational part of the brain increases and rational brain activity decreases. This causes us to make decisions that give us more and more to do.
A good way to deal with this is to write a list of what you have to do, and what the consequences will be if you don't do it. Then reexamine your thoughts by questioning whether there is evidence that it will work out that way? You can especially look for if you think you can predict the future, have a too high minimum level or think you can read minds.

15. The fun way to heal from fatigue

Do your thoughts constantly go to how tired you are? Do you constantly feel how hard life is? Do you constantly try to feel if you are getting worse? If you are getting more tired, more brain fog, more dizzy, more nauseated, more palpitations? There is a risk that you are making yourself worse, and your life and your exhaustion even harder.
Today I'm going to talk about how to make your exhaustion easier to live with, and maybe even enjoyable at times. I'm going to talk about how your thoughts can help you heal. And no, I'm not going to talk about thinking positively or lying to yourself. Being exhausted is a pain, there's a lot of sadness, anxiety, fear and frustration. But that doesn't have to mean it's always like that. It can actually be wonderful, fun and relaxing.
Key takeaways
When you get sick and start thinking more about how sick you are, which is completely natural and something we all do, we strengthen the neural pathways that sense the bad. We become super good at feeling bad, so-called sensitization. Which stresses our brain and our nervous system, which makes us more tired, more nauseous, dizzy, gives us more pain or whatever symptoms we have.
But just as we can build neural pathways to feel bad, we can build neural pathways to feel good. We can train ourselves to feel good by focusing more on what we actually enjoy. It needs to be what you really enjoy, not what I enjoy or what you pretend to enjoy. When you leaning into positive sensations, you create safety for the brain, the stress level drops and the nervous system can leave its survival mode for a while.
You can reinforce this reaction by writing down what you experience and by photographing it.

14. 3 steps to recover from fatigue and brain fog without setbacks

Do you want to do things, but get setbacks every time you try? Recovering from fatigue and brain fog is a balancing act. On the one hand, you have to allow time for recovery and not do too much. On the other hand, too much restriction becomes a confirmation for the brain that your illness is dangerous, which increases stress and increases symptoms. So how should you do it? That's what I'm going to answer today.
 
Key takeaways:
Let go of the demands for your optimal recovery. It's okay not to succeed in getting the perfect recovery.
Plan your activities based on effort and make sure you get enough recovery between the intense activities. It's not dangerous to be stressed sometimes, as long as you take it easy before and after.
Plan recovery in the form of active rest, passive rest and sleep.

13. Get back to the life you want with this simple method

Do you find yourself trying to get back to your old life, trying different activities, but always get setbacks? Do your fatigue or brain fog get worse every time you do something? I’ve been there too, and there is a way to solve it. In today’s episode I’ll share how I went from not even being able to take part in a conversation or listen to a podcast, to getting back to a normal life again. This simple method will reset your brain, calm your nervous system and make it easier to do things, without setbacks, fatigue or brain fog. 
 
Key takeaways:
The brains fear of activities stresses itself and the nervous system. To reduce your symptoms you need to change your thoughts. This knowledge alone will have a calming effect on your brain. 
Work with gradual exposure for getting back to activities. Small, small, tiny steps, one at the time. Try again and again. 
Feeling stuck or pressured will increase symptoms. Always have an escape plan. 
 

12. Does Your Fatigue Making You Overeat? A Stress Perspective on Weight Loss

The last couple of years before my burnout I was constantly hungry. I ate six times a day, and my portions were always bigger than everybody else’s.
When I healed from my burnout. I didn’t only recover from fatigue. My nervous system could finally calm down and get back to normal. And so did my hunger.
You might think that burnout is only exhaustion, but it is far more. In this episode I'll share how stress makes the nervous system make your hunger go bananas, and how to get it back to normal again.
Key takeaways
Weight loss is very seldom about self discipline, it's a complex mix of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Its a mix of biological signals, mental beliefs and your surroundings. You don't need to blame yourself, but you don't need to feel like a victim either. You can change this.
 When the nervous system that's stuck in fight or flight, it will make your hunger go bananas. By reducing the stress and calming your nervous system you will automatically be less hungry. 
Eating can be a way to handle stress and get a much needed break, calm down and get some stress relief.
When you’ve gotten used to eating a lot, you've built a habit. It takes time and effort to realize you’re not hungry because of lack of food, but because of habit.
You need to be aware of your eating patterns, and change your snack to other activities that give you a break, stress relief or whatever you need.

11. The Best Exercise to Reduce Nausea and Dizziness Caused by Fatigue

Do you feel like the world is constantly tipping over? Maybe you experience constant dizziness or nausea? When I was mentally fatigued, those two symptoms persisted for months. Until I learned why I got them, that they weren’t dangerous and an exercise to get rid of them. In this episode, I’ll share why your nervous system and brain give you nausea and dizziness, and how you can ease it.
Key takeaways
The nausea and dizziness are not dangerous. They're caused by your brain and nervous system, interpreting situations in your life and your symptoms as dangerous.
 Knowing they're not dangerous it will decrease the nausea and dizziness, while the fear of symptoms increases the symptoms.
You can ease your nausea and dizziness by building new, neural pathways, stating that the symptoms aren't dangerous.
You build new neural pathways by feeling your nausea and dizziness, describing it in a neutral way and reassuring your brain that they're not dangerous.

10. How to Workout Safe with Fatigue and Exhaustion

Working out was an important part of my recovery. I ran, biked, weight trained, danced, skied and did Pilates.
When I got burnt out, not working out was not an option.  Being outdoors and working out is a big part of who I am. I have worked as a group training instructor and personal trainer for 15 years. I moved to the mountains to be able to ski and bike more.
But finding the balance of working out with fatigue wasn’t that easy.  In the beginning, I pushed myself a bit too hard, before I got the hang of it. In this episode I’m going to talk about working out as exhausted. How to do it without pushing yourself to hard but not be afraid of it either.
 
Key takeaways
 Don't be afraid of working out or move while exhausted and fatigued. Your body will tell you when to stop.
Don't pressure yourself. Pressure stresses the brain. High demands on training, weather it's to accomplish something, to look a certain way or to be healthy, stresses the brain.
There is a difference between working out to get better at something or move just for the fun of it. Go for the fun of it. Movement out of joy calms the brain and nervous system.
Adapt the movements and training after how exhausted and fatigued you are, and your level of fitness. In the first phase, when you can't do anything except sleep, do sleep. When you feel a bit better, start with slow, mindful movements like Pilates, yoga or walks. If you worked out a lot before your burnout, you could gradually get back to more intense workouts but keep them lighter and shorter than before.
Don't stress out. There will be a time for intense workouts and personal records again if you want to. But right now, your focus should be healing, not your weight or muscles.
 

9. The Must Do to Ease Stress, Exhaustion and Overwhelm

Today I will talk about how writing can relieve stress and pressure, both in the moment and long term. When I was trying to find ways to recover, I discovered plenty of research showing the benefits of journaling. Weather you do an unorganized brain dump or more systematically reframing exercise, you will feel better in the moment and start your journey towards healing.
 
Key takeaways
The part of the brain you use by writing is more rational than the part you use for thinking. This makes it easier to see your problems from different perspectives and in a more nuanced way.
Journaling makes you break that loop of ruminating thoughts, getting you to break through your negative emotions and see a more nuanced reality.
Journaling can be a way of amplifying the good things in your life, balancing the focus on the negative when ill.
There is no right way or wrong way to write. You can do a brain dump, writing whatever comes to mind, you can write about your thoughts and feelings on a special topic or you can do reframing exercises.
You can write by hand, on a computer or using a voice recorder. You don't need to save what you've written.