You got this because you gave your email address at my site.
:: Got a blogging buddy who's struggling? Forward this message to a friend ::
One morning, I sat down at my desk to work on my blog and pulled up my to-do list. And while my docket for that day was full of Very Good Things that would move the needle on my big business goals, I couldn't muster up a single ounce of motivation to do any of it. 😬
So I picked something easy, even though it wasn't on my to-do list. I'll just share something trending to my Facebook page.
But after 45 minutes of searching for something juicy to share, I still hadn't found anything. I hopped from Facebook page to Facebook page, and I couldn't seem to make a decision and move forward.
Meanwhile, my trusty timer app was tick-tick-ticking away. I knew that wasting this much time on a trivial task was a horrible idea. I knew I'd get more meaningful results if I spent my time on something like writing a message to my subscribers instead.
And yet, I kept at it—searching, searching, searching. A pressure started at my temples and slowly but surely blanketed my head.
But here's the worst part...
That wasn't my first time on the not-so-merry-go-round. Spending time on low-value tasks at the expense of meaningful, deep work had become a pattern for me.
If I did manage to wrestle my brain into submission and have a go at one of those deep-work tasks, I couldn't concentrate. My mind would wander, and I'd get distracted by something else that suddenly seemed very important to do right then. Or I'd catch myself staring beyond my computer and out the window.
And at lunchtime when my husband asked me how my work had gone that morning, I was irritable and short. When one of my kids accidentally dropped their PBJ on the floor where the dog gobbled it up in 0.7 seconds, my reaction was way out of proportion to the severity of what had actually happened. 🤦♀️
Can you relate?
Over the past couple years, I've heard from more and more bloggers who've been feeling some or all of the same things:
- Experiencing a lack of motivation
- Having difficulty concentrating
- Being more absentminded or forgetful than normal
- Feeling irritable or angry at a level that's out of proportion to the moment
- Spending time on low-value or pointless tasks
- Falling out of touch with your blogging buddies
- Suffering from headaches, tension in your neck and shoulders, or physical fatigue
As it turns out, these are all classic telltale signs of something that many of us experience but few people talk about openly: burnout.
As bloggers, we're particularly susceptible to it because a lot of blogging revolves around giving of yourself to others—writing content to help your audience solve a problem or answer a question they have, being responsive on email and social media, handling upset readers with grace and without losing your own temper, and more.
Not to mention all the regular stressors of daily life, like parenting, holding down a day job, being a caregiver for a loved one, and keeping your household running with clean laundry and healthy(ish) meals on the table.
To add to that, the last couple years have added an extra dimension of stress for many of us.
Unfortunately, you can't just power through.
Imagine this: You're driving to the grocery store one day, and another car runs a red light and almost clips you in the intersection. It's a close enough call that you were really and truly scared for a moment. 😳
But you're fine, the car's fine, and the moment has passed.
Even so, you've still got adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol flooding your system. That was a very stressful moment and it's over, but your body doesn't realize that.
You're stuck in what's called a stress cycle. And until you complete that stress cycle, you can't move past that moment. You can't just grit your teeth and wait for it to pass because your body hasn't gotten the memo yet.
The blogger status quo right now is a neverending stress cycle. But our bodies are not designed to survive in that state. That's why our energy feels sapped. That's why we're struggling with motivation. That's why we feel burnt out.
So how do you fix it?
Suppose you're being chased by a lion. What do you do?
You run.
That's exactly what your body needs to process the stress. That burst of movement tells your brain you've survived the initial threat. Only after that happens can your brain get the message that your body is safe. 😌
While several techniques can help you complete the stress cycle, the most consistently effective technique is physical activity.
But I know what you're thinking.
Kelly, I'm *already* stressed by everything on my plate, and you're telling me that on top of all that, I need to—ugh—exercise?!
I'm with you. I have never before in my life had an exercise routine that I stuck to. In fact, the thought of carving out time to exercise every day when I'm already overwhelmed makes me want to run back to bed and hide under the covers.
But after recognizing the signs of burnout in myself, I dove deep on researching how to pull myself out of it, reading book after book and article after article. And I couldn't argue with the overwhelming evidence of what the body needs to recover from burnout.
Here's the hard truth.
There are people in the world who need to hear what you have to say.
Your true fans are out there, waiting for you to reach out and make a meaningful connection that will change their lives for the better. ❤️
If you're sitting on the other side of the computer screen so burnt out that you can't focus on anything more than pinning pins, scrolling Instagram, or obsessively checking your Google Analytics—you'll never connect with your true fans.
You need to put on your own oxygen mask first. Before you can serve others, you need to serve yourself.
And if you're feeling burnt out and emotionally exhausted, the number one way you can get out of that oppressive stress cycle is to get some physical activity—no matter how small—every day.
If you're groaning right now, I get you.
Any time in my adult life anyone has suggested this to me, I've rolled my eyes like a surly teenager. 🙄
It took finding myself in the deep dark well of burnout to make me realize I had to do something. Because of that emotional exhaustion, I was losing touch with dear friends, fraying my bond with my family, and watching my business atrophy when I couldn't find the motivation to keep it strong.
Let's make a pledge to each other.
You don't need to go on a 5-mile run. You don't need to go to the gym. Because small, doable movement is still movement.
So if you can't muster up the energy to do a full-fledged workout or even a 10-minute walk around the block, do what I call a 30-Second Reboot at least once a day:
- Stand up from your chair,
- Take a deep breath,
- Tense all your muscles for 20 seconds, then
- Push all that tension out with a big exhale.
You can set a recurring reminder on your phone at a certain time of day to do a 30-Second Reboot, you can do it at regular milestones in your day like before or after every meal, or you can do it as needed every time you find yourself lacking focus or motivation.
No matter what you end up doing to complete the stress cycle, please make it a priority. Because the world needs to hear what you have to say. And that can't happen when you're burnt out. ❤️
Cheering you on,
Kelly
p.s. If you know of a fellow blogger struggling with burnout, can you forward this message to share it with them? Reaching a hand out when they're stuck in a stress cycle could make all the difference in the world. 💌
p.p.s. Did you get this from a friend? Well, hello! I'm Kelly. 👋 I believe when you stop chasing page views and start blogging for your true fans, your readers will stick around longer. Start my 5-day email series here, and you'll get powerful science-backed strategies to convert one-time visitors into long-term fans.
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