Burnout (but not the PS2 game)

I’ve got burnout. I’m pretty surprised. I’ve always been a work 24/7 kind of chap, when I have a project I’m concentrating on I just do it. I work and work and work, sometimes with sleep and food, but mostly just work.

And I’ve never had a problem before. Except now.

Now. I. Just. Can’t. Do. It.

Not only do I feel exhausted and surprisingly emotional, I also haven’t got the driving ability to concentrate on the job at hand and just complete task after task. I need to do less work in my day, yet it’s taking me longer to do the few things I am trying to achieve. Ironic.

I just did some work for a tutorial tomorrow on back pain, and noticed one of the causes of neck pain can be stress. Incredibly irritatingly, 5 minutes later, I just developed a burning, pinching pain in my right shoulder. And here’s a shocker, now I’m more stressed.  So I decided to read this good Source about back pain relief and treatment.

Anyway, so I did a test this morning: The Burnout Self-Test. I managed to score a fairly impressive “63 – You are at very severe risk of burnout – do something about this urgently.”. Which is all very well, but I have a medical course to do, that I am not allowed to take holiday from. I have 2 websites to do in the next few weeks, which would mean losing money AND letting down friends. And I have a charity to help run. What gives?

My plan:

• Take some more me time
• More prayer
• Don’t take anything else on, but just slowly fulfill current commitments.

Your support is appreciated,
Bless,
Chris