Afterburn(Out)

You're fried. Stuff's not getting done. You're on the verge of saying, "Screw this." But before you hit eject, turn to these tactics to fix your serious case of

- By K.J. McCandless

You're not going to be part of the Great Resignation. You just aren't. Yes, work has been overwhelming lately, and you've lost touch with why you're doing what you're doing. But you can't quit, right? You have a couple kids, or 17 years left on the home loan. Or you just fundamentally like what you do, but it's a slog to actually get it done.

And maybe the changes you've made to your life since the pandemic have been, as weird as it feels to admit, pretty positive. You might be working from home more. Perhaps you stopped drinking (at least Monday through Wednesday) or you took up trail running (300m of elevation this morning!). But even thinking about work leaves you exhausted. Unenthusiastic. You're crispy around the edges.

What to do now: bringing yourself back from being fried is about adjusting how you think and what strategies you use to prevent yourself from getting all burned up again in the future. Consider the following...

INTERROGATE YOUR URGE TO QUIT

The problem with quitting is that quitting is a lot of work. Suppose you decide to do something new. "To make it commensurate with what you were doing before, you usually end up working more hours," says clinical psychologist Dr. Brien Kelley. "Worse, you work less-boundaried hours." So before you get the heck out of your current job, you've got to wonder, "What's on the other side of quitting?" Note: hustling is mostly unpaid work.

FIND YOUR 2 PERCENT