I could feel it coming on. There were signs earlier in the week, but I didn’t have a free moment to do anything about them. Just a low, steady feeling of being tugged in six directions at once.
By the end of the week, it hit me.
The feeling that there’s not enough of me to go around.
Do you know what I mean?
Client texts, kids’ schedules, family calls, and that’s before you count what working behind the chair takes out of you emotionally and physically. So much to do, and not enough of you to get to all of it.
This is the sign.
We always say you can’t pour from an empty cup. Notice when your tank is empty. But what does that actually mean? How do we stay aware of our own levels when the schedule doesn’t leave room to check?
It’s easy to post a bubble bath video on IG to show a reset. Maybe finding time and taking a bubble bath is difficult, but what I find more difficult is the hearing the signals that you need a break. It’s harder to catch it, to know the warning light is on, before the light is flashing on empty.
By the end of that week, I’d had enough. I said no to three things to prioritize myself, and went on an hour long hike through the trees.
No headphones, no music, no podcast. Just me, taking a moment. At first I couldn’t relax. It took about fifteen minutes for my mind to stop racing. We’ve all felt this. When you’re going nonstop, it takes a while for your system to slow down and settle.
I focused on what I could see, what I could hear, the feeling of each footstep. Not worried about how many steps or a workout, just what I could take in all the forest had to offer me.
Slowly, I came back to myself. Shut out the noise, the to-do list, and let myself just be there. By the end of the walk, I felt like a new person, ready to begin slow again into the world.
I’d had warning lights on all week. I finally knew I couldn’t keep going without making space for myself.
My signal is feeling stretched thin. My friend’s signal is when she stops singing; she loves to sing, and when she notices she hasn’t been, she knows she’s too far in her head.
We each have our own signal. Get to know yours. And in the middle of the chaos, have the awareness to not just notice it, but do something about it.
That’s one way to avoid burnout.
My hope for you today: check in with yourself. Is there a signal telling you that you need something?
"My friend's signal is when she stops singing." That's the line I'd keep, because it's so specific. On wedding mornings I've learned to watch for an artist's version of it: she stops talking to the bride and just works. The face still looks finished. The room feels it first. What was the first signal you learned to catch in yourself?