by Kathryn Weber
Feeling dedicated to your job and life is admirable. But there are times when it just all becomes too much. It might start with feeling frustrated, rushed, and aggravated. Or, you may simply feel anxious like the other shoe is going to drop…all the time.
When this happens, it’s a good sign that you are reaching burnout.
Burnout can come from a variety of ways, like your job. Endless deadlines and work can make you feel overwhelmed. So, too, can be from being on the clock at all times. Today’s employees are expected to answer emails late at night, on weekends, and often on vacation.
In fact, most people today are always “on,” being able to be contacted and reachable across multiple ways so that you never have a moment’s peace. It’s a recipe for burnout.
Burn out can also come from caring for everyone and everything…and not enough for yourself.
Whether you’re a veterinarian, nurse, or you work in a caring field, feeling like you no longer can offer that same depth of caring or service is called compassion fatigue. That can happen when you have a special needs child, elderly family members to care for, or just managing a busy family.
And if all this isn’t enough, burn out can leave you doubting yourself and wondering what’s wrong with you. Self-questioning and self-chastising only adds to the misery. But it’s a normal part of burnout.
How does burnout happen? It’s a matter of balance, and you are most likely out of it. Easing burnout means returning some harmony back to your life, and it means feeding your emotional, physical and spiritual needs.
Feng shui has some ways you can improve the energy in your home and life to build up your energy reserves and get you feeling like yourself again, helping you refresh and renew.
1. Use color to brighten your outlook.
Feng shui colors can help your manage burnout and overwhelm. For relationship difficulties, wear orange to make you feel bolder in love, yellow to help your thoughts and solidify relationships. For confidence, wear white to help lift your energy and bring help to your life, wear red to give you strength, protection and courage, and wear purple to give you a B-12 shot of confidence. To help you feel caring and accepting of yourself, wear green. When you feel burned out from too many demands, wear blue to help you feel cared for and encouraged.
2. Add an image of your secret friend to give you a boost.
Look for an image or figure of your Chinese zodiac secret friend to help share your load and to bring you friendship, luck and helpful assistance. Here are the secret friend pairs:
Horse and sheep, ox and rat, tiger and boar, rabbit and dog, dragon and rooster, snake and monkey.
3. Energize your zodiac sign.
Give your energy a boost by adding a small dish with your zodiac sign in it. Surround the figure with precious gems such as jade, amethyst, lapis, and peridot and citrine. Then place the dish in the corner of your house, living room or desk that corresponds with your zodiac sign. You can find the exact placement for your zodiac sign here:
4. Energize your image.
While it’s tempting to place pictures and photographs in your bedroom, when you need to re-charge, start by taking out all photographs of people in your bedrooms, especially if any of them are of you. Next, place those images in another area, like your living room. Bedrooms should be more yin and images placed here will be imbued with yin energy. Add your photo to yang areas of the house.
5. Honor your chi.
Help un-stick your personal energy and renew yourself by adding exercise, walks in the park, or spending time in the garden. Your energy needs attention when you are facing burnout, so give yourself that attention by taking time for what feeds your energy.
Maybe it’s a coffee and a book at your favorite coffee shop, hiring a housekeeper, planting flowers, or whatever feeds you personally. Honor your energy with a commitment to yourself with time doing what you enjoy.
6. Look for the mess.
I have always looked at a house as an extension of myself. When I’m feeling frantic or overwhelmed, I can almost always find a mess somewhere. When you have a mess in your house, it symbolizes a mess in your life. Where’s your mess? Is it the basement, the attic, your closet? Look for all messes, large and small and start tackling them.
