Speaker 1: So far we've talked about burnout, and where that term comes from, what goes on in our brains to cause it, how to know if we're burning out, we even talked about the impact media has on our mental health, stress and its role, sleep and nutrition, and how important they are in our life, relationships, how those can be affected, and finally, dealing with burnout in the workplace. Phew, that's a lot. But now, we need to move on to what I think is honestly the most important part, and that is recovery. If we think we may be burning out, or have been burnt out for a really, really long time, what do we do? How do we heal? So let's find out. And as always, this video series is an educational project sponsored by Google. Aside from making time for exercise, eating a proper diet, and getting enough sleep each night, there are other things we need to consider and incorporate into our life to help us recover from burnout. Some things to consider are how long of a break or vacation we need to take to give our brain the time to heal. Have you ever come back from a vacation and felt totally rested? Or maybe you come back just as stressed out, or even more so. Think about this for a bit. And also consider the type of break you need. Maybe you need to sit around and do nothing for seven days. I like that. Or maybe you like to get outside, hike or bike. I also kind of like that. Or perhaps you prefer to see the world and experience different cultures. I know personally, I love to see the world and get outdoors, but I do need some time to relax and do nothing. So my perfect break or vacation needs a little bit of all three. How about you? It's also possible you just need a few breaks within each week. It doesn't have to be a big vacation or an adventure. Maybe you go get a massage or spend some time with a good friend. I honestly believe that we all need these. I know I do. These small breaks help keep me focused and creating with joy, instead of feeling overworked and possibly irritated. Especially if money is tight, these small breaks may be more attainable for you. So consider what small breaks you could make happen this week. Next, we need to figure out how often you need small or even larger breaks. And as a reminder, you should be taking a break every 45 minutes of working so that you can stay focused throughout your day. And also we need to take weekends or at least some days each week completely off. I know it's such a crazy concept, but if we don't have a couple of days where we get to do what we want just because we want to, that reward that we talked about all the way at the beginning of the series, that reward will go down. Because if you remember, burnout is caused when the reward for what we do isn't commensurate with the amount of effort or work we have to put in. And in order to heal, we are going to have to figure out how much time we personally need to feel recharged. It could be a day. It could be a whole month. As with most things, everyone's going to be different. For the homework for this week, I want you to consider what I talked about in this episode. Taking breaks and figuring out what type of break you personally need. What do you like to do in your free time? What leaves you feeling relaxed and recharged? Do you need a short or possibly a long break? How often do you need to take these breaks? Think about all of these questions and jot down some of your thoughts about them. The more we know about ourselves and our own healing process, the better able we will be to make some positive steps in a healthy direction. And also, let's get some comments going. What are some of your regular self-care tools or techniques? Please share those below because I know that it can be really hard to come up with them on our own sometimes. So that might spark someone's thoughts.