Join Dr Amy Imms on your journey to overcoming burnout!
It’s time to make self-care a priority, and take care of your wellbeing for a change.
If you want to know how burnt-out you are the moment, take the burnout quiz!
Amy is a medical doctor, mother of 5, and founder of The Burnout Project. She has always been intrigued by the human brain, and how and why we react to life in such vastly different ways. She sadly watched many colleagues struggling with grueling medical training, and then noticed so many of her patients battling with life’s challenges. It wasn’t until Amy experienced burnout for herself that her career took a sudden turn. She found it extremely difficult to find high quality burnout-specific support, and made it her mission to provide for others what she could not find for herself. For the last 6 years, she has worked to raise awareness of burnout, reduce stigma, support burnt-out individuals, and create burnout-aware workplaces.
A note from Amy
If you’re feeling burnt-out at the moment, there are a few things I want you to know.
Firstly, you are not a failure. You are not weak. This has not happened because you’re not resilient enough, or not strong enough.
Burnout occurs because the demands put upon you are greater than the resources you have at hand to meet them. And that is an incredibly complex equation!
The first thing you need to do is ‘give yourself a break’. And I don’t mean take 2 weeks off work (although you might need that as well). What I mean is that you need to be gentle with yourself. Give yourself permission to acknowledge that it’s all too much. Allow yourself to recognise that it’s not you that’s the problem. Give yourself permission to seek help.
Next, I want you to know that this can get better. No matter how bad things are now. No matter how low you feel. Support is out there. With the right guidance, you can re-shape your life so that you’re living life the way you want to, and being the person you want to be.
Take the burnout quiz. Get a feel for where things are at right now.
Then, you need to begin the process of finding that person who’s going to support you. Not for a once-off appointment, or for 3 weeks. Someone who can stick with you over at least several months, so that you make the changes you need to make, sustain them, and have a solid plan that will keep you going long-term.
This support can come from many places. I can offer some support options, including counselling, a safe online support community, and online programs. Other options include your GP, a psychologist, a coach, or other therapists. Whichever option you choose, make sure that they have adequate training or skills in managing burnout specifically – it’s quite different to other entities such as depression or anxiety. Find someone who feels like a good ‘fit’ – someone you feel safe to be vulnerable with, and whose advice seems to align with the way you approach life. When you find that person, keep them! Continue seeing them for as long as you need to, until you’ve achieved what you want to and feel you have the strength and skills to sustain it long-term. And then, if you notice burnout creeping back in, go back and seek more support as early quickly as possible. The earlier we intervene, the quicker and easier it is to recover.
I wish you all the best.
Take care,
Amy