The Burnout That Nearly Ended Me

Let me paint you a picture of the last few years.

Sometimes its difficult to pinpoint where it all started.

Balancing all the tasks and attempting to be consistent on a daily basis never starts off easy.

Being disciplined and knowing when to lock in.

It isn’t taught.

It isn’t inherited.

It isn’t adopted.

There have always been periods of staring at my phone's language learning app that was judging me for breaking my 5-day streak.

My gym clothes, untouched for a week, sat in the corner like a guilty reminder.

The 'meal prep' containers that I purchased were collecting dust.

My football groupchat messages were muted and unread for a long period.

I kept thinking that I had it all figured out in my head

The corporate job, the fitness goals, the side-hustle dreams. But in reality? I was burning out trying to be everything to everyone, while my own health was sliding backwards.

The thing is rock bottom can have a way of becoming your foundation.

You become so comfortable with being comfortable.

Binge-watching and scrolling with no purpose.

Not like there is a purpose with those, but I don’t wanna make you feel guilty because I do these things too.

Maybe the difference between you and me is I know WHEN to do it and how to limit myself.

I’ll make sure all my important tasks for the day are done first and then I’ll scroll or watch something within small time frames, similar to my tasks.

My Turning Point.

The day I started to take accountability and ask myself, why?

I was trying to juggle everything to please or show off to others…

When really I had to re-evaluate.

The first step of learning and growing will always be identifying your why.

95% of the time, if your reason is to please others or show off to the world, I can tell you it won’t be sustainable long-term.

I had to ask myself, why am I learning two languages?

Why did I choose to balance playing football and weightlifting?

Why do I spend time researching into copywriting and marketing outside of my full time job?

I stopped trying to impress people with a language and looked at it as a different perspective that helped to expand my understanding of the world.

I stopped comparing myself to others fitness aspirations and prioritised my bodys potential.

I stopped chasing quick fixes from social media gurus and looked to craft a skill that transforms communication into an art form.

By evaluating my ‘why’, it became MY turn.

My turn to do things for my own growth and development.

Burnout or Boredom?

So did I burn out? Many times, yes.

Was I bored? Yes.

Apart from identifying my ‘why’, I had to establish how to avoid boredom, build discipline and avoid burnout again.

It’s always easier said than done, and those that said they wouldn’t fall or fail again never had a secure system in place.

Now they’re back to square one or onto the next big trend.

So you want to know how I did it.

It's the baby steps that have gotten me here.

1. Periodic System Check-ins.

You don’t need it. I’m serious.

The perfect planner.

The perfect schedule.

The perfect motivation.

I don’t use any fancy planners or systems.

I just brain dump and work messy, throwing priorities and tasks into a notes app and organising it for the week.

There is still some element of organisation here, but with apps like Apple notes or notion, it doesnt need to be aesthetic.

Whatever works for you, as long as you’re able to track your progress and get the results you need.

I now try to date my Arabic notes by lesson, and my French notes are just messy sentences which I then break down and add to my flashcard app.

Any rough notes regarding writing ideas just get typed up and edited onto Kortex later on, another great note-taking app.

My Advice: Pick one app that works for you at the start. Just one. Try out:

• Notion

• Apple Notes

• Goodnotes

• Kortex

There are definitely others but pick one that you can add stuff to at any time. On the go, at work or even at 3am. Let the system help you by building a disciplined routine or reminders for you to track and do the tasks.

2. Habit Stacking Without Overthinking.

I advocate this method a little too much.

Pairing normal or boring tasks with stuff you ACTUALLY want to do. It’s a hack in my eyes.

An anchor moment is a specific event or action in your daily routine that you use as a trigger to build a new habit.

It works by attaching a new behavior to something you already do consistently, making it easier to remember and stick to.

You brush your teeth in the morning right? (I hope so).

• Attach a quick podcast listen.

• Five-minute read of a book/article.

• Plan your daily priorities.

It’s as simple as that. The key isn’t about becoming a scholar in that thing. It’s about starting it at such a small increment that it becomes second nature.

So now when preparing my morning (black) coffee I do one of these:

• Look at my work tasks for the day, breaking it down for the quickest time frame to get stuff done in so I can prioritize my side work.

• A quick flashcard review, usually French because that’s quicker for me.

• Check through my content pillars to see what to post today as content for various platforms.

Small habits paired with daily routines.

Forget it being pretty; the focus is to get the interest to become automatic.

3. Micro Wins Over Masterpieces.

At the start, the reason I burnt out has been expressed in this diagram I created below.

I started with maximum effort and went all out.

But motivation is only meant to be a spark, and sparks fade out.

I missed days and beat myself up for not being consistent or not improving.

And now? I’ve made the commitment so small that it’s almost impossible not to achieve. I celebrate these small wins.

Now that I’m getting used to my journey, I’ve started to increase the duration and intensity of the tasks I do, but with the help of frameworks.

I break it down using time and cutting distractions out.

If you feel like you’re doing things half-assed, this is really all you need to do at the start.

• 1 page a day of a book

• 30 minutes of movement

• 15 minutes of journaling.

• 15 minutes of a podcast

• Learn 5 new words daily

These are the ones most relatable to my journey, but it’s as simple as that.

If you compare with others or place too many expectations on being the best, you’re bound to fall into the typical habits bracket.

Aim to be in the minimal bracket.

4. The 80/20 Discipline Rule.

The systems and frameworks I use do not define my progress.

And what does that mean, you ask?

It means I don’t rely on them to do the heavy lifting, they’re just an aid. Think of them like lifting straps or a belt: useful, but not the main source of strength.

The main source is that brain of yours and the habits you implement. That is what will make you take action and get it done.

Aim for 80% structured and 20% chaotic.

Sometimes mine might be slightly less, but that’s because all my interests have been embedded into my routine.

When I travel to different countries, this is when my systems truly help me.

I used to go away for a week or two and come back feeling overwhelmed and disappointed because I’d completely shut off.

But understand that missing a few days doesn’t kill momentum when your system is designed to be flexible.

So as long as you’re seeing results and you have a plan in place.

Now I don’t want to overwhelm you past the four above points, but these are what helped me stick to my ‘why’ and get established with the interests that I enjoy alongside the habits that help me grow. They should go hand in hand.

Now let’s talk about the misconceptions.

I know you’ve seen people tell you you have to do things a certain way.

With these influencers and online gurus, take everything with a pinch of salt.

They might help get your journey kickstarted, but understand that the layout of your path is different.

The route might be similar.

But how many of them have reached where you intend to be?

Actions definitely speak louder than words but online, there are always a lot more words spoken with little action.

If someone can back it up, great! If not, do your thing and do it with absolute purpose (I’d love to say ‘glorious purpose’ but that’s Loki’s thing).

It might be that you’re burning out because you’re working harder, not smarter.

1. Exercise for 1 hour, not 3.

Anymore than 2/3 hours is excess. No genuine bodybuilder or fitness influencer should advocate this as there is a high chance of injury and fatigue.

The LLL way: 1 hour of pure intensity and focus, including correct form. Typically I hit mid to heavy weights with lower reps for building muscle. Depending on your goals, this might differ.

For cardio, any combination of HIIT workouts, kept to 3/4 sets or under 20/30 minutes.

Football sessions never exceed 1h 30 minutes.

This might be subject to different situations of course, e.g. if you’re an athlete or training for a competition.

I want this to be applicable for beginners, busy people or for those who want to get fit again.

Doing more doesn’t equal more gains.

You might not feel the burnout from exceeding workouts but trust me, long term it can play with you, mentally and physically.

Everyones body is different, so take some time out to understand yours and what works.

2. Learn for 1 hour, not 4.

You may think you’re a T100 Model or ChatGPT in human form, but truth is, even the most intellectual individuals break down complex information into the simplest forms.

They don’t learn for hours on end, this is a sure fire way to burn out mentally and resent any information you’re looking to learn.

The LLL way: Write it down in simple terms. With my French and Arabic I approach them differently. The results I’ve seen though mean that the methods I’ve been using have been helping me to understand grammar structure and memorise words.

Even if you’re not learning a language these methods can help retain any type of information you need:

• 15 to 30 minutes of overview - This can be highlighting key words or concepts, or reviewing flashcards to recall information.

• 30 minutes of writing - Don’t underestimate the power of the pen, I type my notes but I also write down lesson notes or course notes so it goes in.

• 15 to 30 minutes of reviewing - Whatever I’ve written or learnt that day, I make sure to identify the key information that I’ll need, I’ll then look to review it periodically after that.

You don’t have time to learn? I do this in between my 9-5.

30 minutes a day can be powerful as long as you have a plan in place and understand what you need to learn.

Don’t expect information to absorb by doing hours and hours, simplify and review.

3. Read for 30 Minutes, not 3.

There’s no reason to read for 2 hours plus if you’re looking to retain the information.

We’re humans, not machines.

Avoid the mental fatigue.

If you enjoy reading for fun, that’s understandable.

But sometimes if you need to pick up information, you might find that you skim over the pages rather than comprehend the words you read.

The LLL way: Aim so small it’s damn near impossible not to achieve. What’s 5 pages a day?

Build it up as I did.

30 minutes is the sweet spot for me if I’m looking to dissect the pages and make notes on the information.

Currently I’m reading ‘Principles’ by Ray Dalio, so when I do read something, I’ll make a note of the page and come back to the topic.

I’ll then write it out but in my own words, ensuring the overarching topic is still evident.

4. Sleep for 8 hours, not 6.

Sleep is too important for our functioning. Cells recover, our bodies grow from the efforts of fitness and nutrition, and we generally reset with each nightly cycle.

Anything less than 8 hours, and you’ll be sure to feel it with disrupted functioning and impairments. Rest up!

The LLL way: For me, my sleep routine could be a lot better. Sometimes it’s never a consistent nights sleep, so I usually take 20/30 minute naps at lunch time.

Naps can be ideal so don’t neglect them.

The heavy gym days or football the day before can usually catch up to me late, so I make sure to do these things:

• Cold shower to reduce muscle soreness

• Coconut oil on my body after to reduce inflammation

• Massage gun on my legs/body to relieve tension

As well as this, there are things you can do to which are scientifically proven to help get a better nights sleep, e.g:

• Keeping your room cool and dark

• Avoiding screens or lights

• Practicing relaxation techniques

I’m not a morning person. The night time tranquility can be addicting.

Which is why I don’t look down at my 9-5 as much because of the fact it’s gotten me into a good routine.

But if you want to achieve anything great, it starts with a good sleep routine.

The Bottom Line

It’s not just systems and frameworks I’ve implemented, it’s habits to ensure I avoid burning out from my work and multiple interests.

Don’t make the same mistakes I did.

Time is truly of the essence. Don’t waste it wilting away and saying “I’ll do it tomorrow”.

The ‘why’ you’ve identified as your reasoning for doing things should help spark the motivation.

If you need help to identify your ‘why’ I want you to ponder on these simple questions:

• Is this something I enjoy and why?

• What are the reasons I want to do this?

• What is the minimum commitment I can give to this and how?

• How will it help me in the future?

Below is an example of my ‘why’ behind learning French and Arabic.

Simple but effective.

Don’t expect to write an essay, you just want to ensure you know the reasons for why you want to commit to an interest or hobby.

Don’t burnout or waste time like I did.

Do it with absolute purpose.

I hope this got you thinking about . If you have any questions, feel free to reach out on Instagram @liftlangleon.

Till next time, peace.

LiftLangLeon