How Long Does It Take To Heal Burnout?
Abstract:
I specialise in supporting clients in preventing or overcoming burnout, and the question I get most often is: How long does it take? It’s a fair question.
I have both good news and bad news for you. The bad: It takes longer than you think! The good: You can still work and live your life during recovery.
Your mission today is to learn how long it takes to heal burnout.
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Task 1: Distinguish between First Aid and actual recovery
If you ask a general question like “How long does the recovery take?”, it’s a bit like asking “How long is a piece of string?” The answer is, to overcome the acute symptoms, if you really take time off and rest, can take as little as a few weeks.
However, to truly recover takes a long time. This is because burnout leaves traces in the body, and causes long-term consequences such as trouble sleeping and emotional instability. Whilst all this will get better in the first weeks of recovery, they can take years to overcome fully.
General rule: Most people underestimate how long it’ll take them. Don’t expect to function at 100% again after taking a break of a month or two. That’s just not how it works.
Task 2: How long does it take?
Therefore, the most honest and comprehensive answer to the question is: Years, probably. You can, however, speed up the process by making some radical changes in your life. Doing this, you don’t just heal your acute burnout, you also make sure it won’t happen again.
This requires some fundamental changes. They include slowing down, simplifying and doing way, way less – so little that you’ll feel lazy and completely unproductive at first. This is normal after overtaxing yourself has been the norm for so long.
Incidentally, this process is what I specialise in. If you’d like to “burnout-proof” your life, check out The Magic of Purpose and schedule a free chat with me there. We’ll see if the program is right for you, and discuss possible next steps.