Handling Burnout in 2024

After moving across the country at twenty-two, rebuilding my small business from scratch, and handling the stress of it all, I began a journey of taking better care of myself in 2023. Now, in 2024, this is what I plan to do differently.

Keep in mind I have a lot of freedoms with my time. I built a business around being a stay at home wife and mom, before I've even met my future husband. So I'm building this foundation before love and children ever come into play.

My Story

I run a small home bakery and farm where I bake desserts and grow herbal teas and produce. All of this feeds into (pun intended) feeding my family as well as my customers and community. In the process of sustainably building a business that is seasonal, I get to take much of the winter off work. This is due to being too cold to grow anything in the gardens, and everyone trying to eat less sweets after the holidays. So it's a good time for me to check in with myself and take some much needed rest.

There are a lot of things I do to try and mitigate symptoms of burnout, and while I live a fairly unconventional lifestyle for a mid-twenties woman, I hope some of these tactics can help anyone looking for some fresh ideas.

Business Burnout

I will split this into two sections, Bakery and Farm.

In the Bakery, I work generally from March through December with some Valentine's stuff in February. In that time I rarely get a weekend off. And since I work from home I go out to several pop-ups like farmers markets. Special orders, festivals, and weekly baking can put a lot of stress on my body as anyone working in the food industry knows. Standing for 10+ hours a day, hunched over when decorating, etc. Towards the end of the year I barely have time to shower and sleep, let alone enjoy the holidays.

Now, that isn't to say I'm ungrateful for the business and opportunities. Every time I see someone smile at my desserts it makes my day. I need to take extra measures to prioritize my health though, because I'm a one-woman show. If I get sick, there's no one to bake in my place.

What do I do then? Mainly... I go back to basics.

• Sleep! Whenever I can fit a nap in or add an hour of sleep.

• Building a routine I can fall back on. Basic menus, meals, plans, days, etc.

• Find ways to decompress. Delve into a hobby or watch tv.

• Music helps me a lot, I'll usually have it play all day while I work.

On the Farm, the most burnout I feel is during harvest season. Between harvesting, preserving, seed saving, pruning, etc. it can pile on. Gardening is a lot of 'hurry up and wait'. I feel like I have to develop all these recipes and blends right then and there to best use the produce I grew. But that doesn't need to happen at all.

Generally I will take care of my ducks, they're borderline therapy animals at this point. Anyone who comes over likes to sit outside in the sunshine and watch them play in the water. My dad will enjoy a fire on summer nights with a glass of whiskey, fireflies, and ducks waddling around.

Another main thing I do is dehydrate, and now that I have a freeze-drier I'll be using that to preserve raw ingredients. This way I don't have to worry how I'll use something until I actually feel inspired to use it.

Developing A Routine & Hobbies

The biggest thing I recommend doing is developing a routine and hobbies to fall back on. Whether this routine is as simple as remembering to eat and make your bed in the morning or as complex as a twelve-step skincare routine. When you build a routine that becomes a habit, it will be a lifeline to hold onto whenever you enter waves of high stress in your life.

My routine currently includes a morning and night skincare routine, making my bed in the morning, going on a walk 2-3 times a week, and sitting down after a long day to watch an episode or two of a drama. Usually the tv shows I like to watch have subtitles, which forces me to pay attention and stop thinking about work. When I'm so busy reading what's happening it almost shuts my brain off to everything else, it forces me to be in the moment and not scroll on my phone under the guise of 'multitasking'. Some people make fun of me for that, but hey it helps me shut my brain off and relax. So my routine isn't something too complicated.

Developing hobbies has helped me whenever I go through mental blocks. It also helps lower my cortisol levels. Sometimes when I'm baking I can't think of any new ideas. Or when I'm writing I'll get into headspaces where I'll stare at a blank page and have no clue how to put my thoughts out into the world. So delving into creative avenues that I rotate through has helped me ground myself.

Some hobbies I take part in include:

• Walking (I don't run but you totally can)

• Painting

• Writing

• Reading

• Yoga

• Gardening

• Music Listening

• Working Out

I will rotate through all of these or find a new hobby to explore. Sometimes I'll go months without painting then get the inspiration to paint four pieces when I've been struggling to write. Or I'll bounce between writing projects in order to not get stuck in a plot or thought process. While I've been able to incorporate a lot of these hobbies into my business life, I don't let them overwhelm what my business is or start to feel like a job themselves. That way I can still enjoy them.

Struggles Of Burnout

There's science behind the effects of long term stress on the body. We simply call it burnout, with symptoms of irritability, depression, anxiety, and more. However, living with high levels of cortisol for long periods of time is detrimental to our health. I wrote another blog about living a slower lifestyle where I discuss the effects of cortisol on a woman's body, I'll add that link here if you're interested.

I don't know about you but I always get frustrated with myself when burnout symptoms show up. I pride myself on being pretty productive and always accomplishing something, even a minor goal I set out for myself. But now that I'm a bit older, I look at burnout as a sign for me to slow down. Sometimes I need a door slammed in my face to finally catch a hint. So in 2024 I am aiming to build on these routines and hobbies so I may avoid higher levels of cortisol and in turn avoid symptoms of burnout.

In the end I don't know if any of this is helpful, but this is what I plan to do this year to prioritize my health more. If any of this sparked a new idea or reassured someone, than this blog post has accomplished its mission. Every person's life is different and our bodies are different too. No one reacts to high levels of stress the same way and no one really relaxes the exact same way either. It's inspiring to know we're all different and can bond over the things we find similar, like things that help us relax. I hope in 2024 and in the future, we can all create bonds over things that make us the same, like a love for reading or painting, or building friendships over a love of music. What may relax us now, may help us build a community later on. Until next time!