How Do I Avoid Burnout?

05/22/15

Something has clicked at work, and I think it will soon transition to my free-time, as well. I have gained serious discipline in choosing what to focus my energy on, and have unlocked serious productivity because of it.

But this has happened before. And then I thought it would last forever, just because it felt so good and that feedback was having me pour more energy into my productivity. Just like now.

But then I lost it.

And I still don't really know why.

Was it...

• soda?
• diet?
• shifting from running to gym?
• stopping gym?
• stopping running?
• my vacation last June where I stopped doing all of this?
• my lack of tracking capability?
• something else entirely?

Did I burn out? Is that what burning out is? What caused it and how can I avoid it happening again?

I know not to trust myself, but that's an insidious thing. It's like me being too drunk to know I'm functionally impaired, but still trusting me to know better.

Again, perhaps I need to seek proper outside help. Though now it's as a defense from back-sliding, instead of frustrating failure.

One thing's for sure, proper research with hard data is in order. And to clarify, I mean research done by others, though I guess doing such research myself could prove interesting. The point is outside help, though, and reading the research of others is a close approximation if not the real thing.