Patient Leader Certification: Balance and Burnout
What's one strategy for managing balance and burnout that you can use right away? Why did you choose it?
A strategy I use to prevent burnout is to actually rest. No forcing of myself to create content or engage, no extra meetings or phone calls. If I spend a full day in the community talking to people, the next day I have already scheduled it as a relax and refresh day. It helps me to stay centered and grounded. When dealing with others in the chronic disease community, it can come with a lot of heavy, relatable conversations and I have to take those moments afterwards.
A strategy I use is to pretend I'm five and set myself a bedtime. This gives me permission to wind down from too much activity and stress and get the rest I need.
A strategy that I use to manage burnout is I take a break In posting medical related content and switch to light hearted and comedy content. I will post content that makes light of the situation so that the feed wont feel as heavy. I stick to this plan because chronic illnesses is often shared in a serious light but sometimes we need laughter to balance us out!
Stay off of health social media for a few days, or keep scrolling through the algorithm until I hit dog videos! Health social media can be so depressing sometimes and really hurt you, especially if you have been following someone's story for a long time, and cannot help them.
