Life has been such a delightful whirlwind as of late but I am one burnt out woman.

I mean, I’m the happiest and most content I’ve ever been but yet, I feel the most exhausted, uninspired, demotivated and just, in a rut. That may seem confusing but for the first time in a long time, I can say that I feel as though I have enough.  Because there was always something just beyond the horizon that would have made life 100% perfect. But things have changed and I have evolved. And well, that’s not me now, so, yeah, what’s the problem?

To be honest, this state of feeling burnt out is related to the pressure I feel to always be doing something. I mean I’m surrounded by people who have tons going on all. the. time. Whether its a new venture, family commitments, a day, night and weekend job and so on and so on. Everyone just always seem so happy with being busy.And that’s where my dilemma begins. I feel as though, I need to be and do the same.

I keep thinking that in order to be fulfilled, to be contented, to be an active, contributing member of society, I should always have something to do. So, right now, I always have something to do. I work full time, teach on evenings, volunteer, run this (extra awesome) blog, have several major personal projects that take up loads of time (and also happen to be high stressors) etc etc etc. And while these all bring me joy, I’ve realized that I now have to hype myself up to do them. The joy isn’t coming natural anymore. I’ve lost the zeal for doing these things that I love and I simply can’t carry on that way.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love all of these things and will continue to do them, but I’m at a point where I’m not doing any of them well because my focus is off. I’ve had several long convos with my lovely hubbs and we’ve made a decision (yes we, because yah know, we’re a tag team) that I’ll chill out a bit. Take things down a notch. Way down.

I admit that saying is so much easier than doing because I feel as though I’ve set certain expectations that I will not be living up to. I meet someone at least once a week that asks  “hey, how is blogging going?” or “tell me about that volunteer teaching thing?” or “how’s such and such project coming along?”. And it irks me to say “wellllllll, I’m not really doing that anymore” or “I’m taking a little break from that”. It makes me feel kind of bummy.

But you know what, it makes absolute sense to just be still. To not do too much. To not fuss and fluster and run around thinking about all the folks I’m disappointing. I’m finishing this school year and will continue working fervently on my blog, but my approach will be vastly different. There’s no guarantee I’d go back to teaching. Maybe I’d get into another type of volunteering which allows me some fluidity. I love working with brands and getting exposure, but I’m re-centering the purpose of this little space here and will now be on go slow. Still here but less form and rigidity. I know I’d enjoy it more. My other projects are definitely still on stream but will be managed without all the pressure.

I hate feeling burnt out so if you’re looking for me, I’ll be spending even less time in the kitchen (gosh and I hope eating less too but I digress), stressing less, talking and reading way more and will most definitely be plopped in front the telly re-watching The Americans series (it’s coming to an end, boo!). All while being an active, positive, productive, contributing member of society.

What say you? What have you done to get out of a burnt out state? Any words of advice?

Thanks for stopping by!

PS – 10 Things I’m Loving in April and 7 Fun (and cheap) Things to do with Friends.