Just kidding: when I’m burned out and uninspired, the last thing I need is some cheesey top 10 list on the internet.

I’m tired.

My eyes have bags and my eye-bags have bags.

My dog is bored, waiting for me to get outside. I don’t want to go outside. I don’t want to be inside. All I want is pancakes.

So I ate pancakes. That didn’t help. I had coffee. That didn’t even help. I’ll tell you (really, reminding myself), what truly helps.

Burnout is, at its core, not about working too much. It’s about being unfocused too much, for too long, or about being too focused for too long.

Either way, the way to fix burnout is the way we put out any slow-burning fire. We cool it.

So find something you enjoy focusing on: and do it, gently, with pleasure, for a long time. Yoga. Bath and The Sunday New York Times. A good book. A nap.

But, fundamentally, all those things point to the same solution. We need to heal our minds, and gladden our hearts, by reconnecting with our own tender hearts. And we can do this through meditation.

It’s that easy. Or, rather simple—it’s simple, but not easy. So sit. Take a good, natural, uplifted posture, and relax. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

(keep breathing)

Refocus one’s mind on the present moment. Again and again, and gently.

And soon enough, we rediscover the will to live this lonely life with joy, instead of cowardice.

Yours in the Vision of an Enlightened Society,

Waylon

Relephant:

10 Ways to Take Care of Ourselves When We’re Suffering from Burn Out.