It's confession time.
A few times this past spring I began to feel burnt out. I wasn't getting as excited about new copy projects as I had in the past. I wondered what was wrong... and... what to do about it.
The vacation certainly helped. It was nice to be away from work for an extended period of time. I believe it's vital to have periods of rest so that you can tackle periods of work with energy and enthusiasm.
And yet, surprisingly, I wasn't as refreshed after my vacation as I had hoped.
Then something interesting happened. I regained my enthusiasm. I am now excited about copywriting again, and I'm really enjoying my work. What happened?
For one, my brother has come to work with me. He's dealing with some of the energy-zapping tasks I don't enjoy doing.
For two, having my brother come on board forced me to get back into a more structured routine. Part of that was scheduling my exercise time. Since my wife is pregnant (going on six months), we haven't been as consistent about exercise. I had been going only once or twice a month. Not good.
But now I'm going four or five times a week. Some days are cardiovascular. Other days are weight training. Plus, I picked up racquetball more aggressively. What a stress reliever that's been!
Anyway, I have noticed a direct correlation between resuming a regular exercise schedule and my motivation to work. Funny, isn't it, that something as simple as regular exercise could help prevent burn out... and actually turn it around? If you're not exercising on a regular basis, I highly recommend that you do.
Spot on Ryan, I've just gotten back into exercising after a four month layoff and I feel great.
It does wonders to clear your head.
You give up an hour's time to exercise but I feel like I'm much more productive when I get back into it and actually get more work done.
Posted by: Kyle Tully | July 17, 2007 at 05:35 PM
The exercise thing is simple but big. Especially, since are job is so sedentary.
I usually start the day with 15 minutes of a yoga/tension exercises. Have a 25 minute cardio or body-weight workout with my wife before lunch. Then in the evening we'll do a short 15-20 minute hike in the woods with the baby.
Considering I haven't had a vacation for two years, and work 6 days a week, and haven't burnt out, the regular exercise routine must have something to do with it.
Now, all I need now is a personal assistant like you got (plus some vacation time). Especially for the routine/repetitive work. That's a killer when you know what you could be doing.
John
Posted by: John A. Manley | July 18, 2007 at 07:03 AM