Tool no 2/10 - Cover your basics

Tame your inner accountant - or how your routine impacts your exhaustion

When it comes to exhaustion & burnout, our routines tell us more than anything about where we stand and how much we are at risk. 

This tool will help you take a closer look at your everyday routines so that you are better equipped to intervene. 

You probably never thought about it, but there’s a small accountant living inside you. Joke aside, your body always keeps a body budget. What goes in versus what goes out. 

In enters enough sleep, healthy food, hydration, peaceful moments, and connection with people. 

Out go activities, physical and cognitive, pressure, meetings, deadlines, stress, well, life. 

When your budget is out of sync, you feel it in your body, such as tiredness, irritability, or various sensations in your body. 

Your mind will most of the time find the culprit for these on the outside.

You feel hungry and everyone else seems to be annoying you. Eat a meal, everyone is back to normal. 

Feel a lot of pressure at work, with little sleep and time for yourself - suddenly you feel like people want to hurt you and talk behind your back. If you have a vacation or just have a few good nights’ sleep, everything is back to normal. 

Sounds familiar?

So for this tool, I would like you to think about your last month and just walk through these areas of your life. Think about most days, not every day. 

The following 3 areas of your life are the most important and relevant parts of your routine that have a great impact on your exhaustion level and your risk of developing burnout. 

1. Sleep & Nutrition. 

• How much do you sleep?

• Do you wake up refreshed?

• What is your routine before bed - Netflix/ phone or news - or do you unwind with a book or a conversation?

• Do you make time to eat healthy meals?

• Are you staying hydrated (8-10 glasses of H2O/day)?

2. Pleasant activities

• When was the last time you felt that you did something that completely detached you from your work?

• Are you physically active?

• What activities did you do that you felt were relaxing and meaningful to you?

3. Connection

• How much time did you spend with family, friends, or people that you care about?

• How much time do you spend reconnecting with people - over the phone/ email/ social media?

You can use the worksheet here to fill in the routines that you might have noticed and set some goals for yourself to tweak some of these if you think that this will help. 

That’s all for now. See you next time with Tool no 3 - how to better recognize & manage your unhelpful thinking.