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When I first burned out, I desperately needed something to hold on to. Concrete tips and advice that I could follow. One of those tools that I needed was a daily schedule or schedule.
If you have read more of my articles, you probably already know that my biggest pitfall is that I do not sufficiently recognize my limits. When I first burned out, I didn’t even know when I was hungry or thirsty. Let alone knowing when I was doing too much or not enough.
An example of a daily schedule can help you structure your day. Structure is important because it creates peace, regularity and space to recover.
It is also important that you receive as few stress stimuli as possible . Sources of stress stimuli include: performance pressure, social media, intensive exercise, caffeine and sugar.
Finally, it is important to alternate effort (both cognitive and physical effort) with relaxation. The more regularly you do this, the more your body learns to recover after exercise. This will also make relaxing easier.
Today I want to share with you a daily schedule that I wish I had had in phase 1 (exhausted) & 2 (reintegration/building fitness). Of course, this daily schedule will not be applicable to everyone. I can understand that not everyone can handle this or that the planned relaxation moments are quite difficult when you have children at home. However, it is important to ensure that you outsource as many tasks as possible so that you have space to work on your recovery. Also try to make appointments with the occupational health and safety doctor so that you have time in the morning to take a walk and then rest. In my opinion, it is better to slowly increase to five days a week, working five hours consecutively, than working ten hours consecutively two days a week.
Also read: My Journey to Recovery: How I Ultimately Overcame Burnout
MORNING
Get up at 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM: Try to get up around the same time every day. Yes, also on weekends. Especially in the beginning, there is a great temptation to stay in bed. Still, it’s good to get up. This way you do not disrupt your bio-rhythm and your body learns to produce cortisol again so that you can wake up energetic again. In phase 1 I got up at 9am at the latest. In phase 2 you can get up a little earlier if all goes well. No matter how bad you feel, take care of yourself. Put on something nice, brush your teeth, comb your hair and put on some makeup.
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM Breakfast: Take your time for a healthy breakfast. Eat enough, because you will soon be exercising. For example, consider a breakfast with oatmeal, semi-skimmed milk, apple and cinnamon or yogurt with granola.
Exercise between 9:00 and 11:00 am: In the morning you are most rested and mentally strongest. In phase 1 I would either go for a walk or cycle. In phase 2 you can also start exercising. Whatever you do, seek out nature. You can of course put music in your ears, but you can also turn it into a mindful moment by listening to what is happening around you. How long you exercise depends purely on your situation. One person can easily handle half an hour of walking, while another is better off stopping after ten minutes.
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM healthy snack & relaxation: As soon as you have finished exercising, grab a glass of water and a healthy snack. Resist the temptation to check your phone and curl up on the couch with a nice magazine or book. Give yourself at least half an hour to do absolutely nothing. For example, listening to music or, if you have slept poorly, lying in bed for an hour is also a good idea. This way your body learns to relax immediately after exercise. This will help enormously with your recovery. After this half hour you can do other relaxing activities.
AFTERNOON
12:00-1:30 PM Lunch: Try to eat at the same times as much as possible. This prevents you from eating too little or too much and prevents unnecessary stress reactions in your body. Make sure you have a hearty and nutritious lunch. This could, for example, be whole wheat sandwiches with cheese and vegetables or a lunch salad with a protein or fat source such as chicken, nuts or cheese.
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM work or ‘must do’: Use the afternoon for things that have to be done. By this I mean, for example, work, housework, shopping, administration or other appointments. You can also use this time to meet up with family or friends. It is a pitfall to want to do too many things at this time. For example, I (still) stick to planning a maximum of two things for the afternoon. In the beginning, unloading the dishwasher may be the maximum. Try not to be annoyed by that but to listen to it.
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM: Before you start cooking or sit down with the family, I recommend that you relax for at least another half hour. I noticed once I could handle more that I fell into my trap again by not taking enough rest. For example, I sometimes came back from a friend’s house at half past five and then immediately started cooking when I got home. This means you run the risk of going back into ‘go mode’. Especially if you are a turbo stress type, it is good to stick to this half hour of rest when you return home. For example, I always have a cup of tea and chat with my friend about how our day was.
Also read: Overcoming Burnout: How to Rebuild Confidence in Your Recovery Journey
EVENING
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM dinner: If you like cooking, this is not a problem, but if you don’t like cooking, this can quickly be too much. I recommend keeping it as simple as possible. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive and difficult. This way I can put a healthy dinner on the table within half an hour. For example, think of prawns with brown rice and a bag of stir-fried vegetables
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM relaxation: The times I went to do something in the evening, things went wrong. A few times I couldn’t resist the temptation and went to work on my laptop for a while and then couldn’t fall asleep. Take it easy in the evening. Play a game with family or your partner, read a book or watch a good series. Let your body and brain relax and slowly prepare to go to sleep later.
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM healthy snack: Nothing is worse than lying in bed with a growling stomach. Before you go upstairs you can have some fruit, nuts or a bowl of yogurt.
9:00 PM – 10:00 PM to bed: Between 9:00 PM and 9:30 PM I went upstairs for my evening ritual. I’m someone who has trouble sleeping, I’ve always had that. Heat helps me fall asleep faster and that is why I want to shower as much as possible in the evening before going to bed. No more screens from this point on ! Leave your cell phone downstairs and if you can’t sleep right away, read a book or magazine. If you still have a lot of trouble sleeping, you can also do a short body scan or take some homeopathic sleeping pills. Especially in the beginning I could have sleepless nights. If I didn’t sleep by 2 a.m., I could get so angry about it, with the result that I couldn’t sleep at all. It helped me to get out of bed and sit downstairs for fifteen minutes with a cup of chamomile tea (relaxing) and some distraction. When I went back to bed I fell asleep quite quickly.
Also read: How haptotherapy helped me recover from my burnout
So, this is my daily schedule that you can use for the first phase and second phase. The first phase is mainly about rest and development. Then, especially during the moments of relaxation, go to sleep or lie on the bed with a book and avoid screens as much as possible. The second phase is mainly about building up physical and cognitive fitness. This includes exercise, sports and activities that increase your ability to concentrate, such as reading, writing, doing puzzles, etc.
I hope you can get inspiration from it for your own daily schedule. As stupid as it feels, I really recommend that you type it out or write it down and put it up. You can also distinguish between working, free and weekend days. Do you have any tips for a daily schedule? Do you have any tips on what worked well or didn’t work well?
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