Business Burnout
Photo by Izzy Pearce | Adelaide, South Australia | Mural by @arlonhall, @sanaa_fest
Right now, I'm struggling with mild to moderate burnout. If I’m being honest with myself it’s something that began a while ago, like probably three months ago, and it’s been creeping in, taking over more and more of my life. I'm not sharing this because I'm seeking any kind of sympathy from you dear reader. The reason I'm sharing is because many people believe that I have this whole work-life balance stuff 100% figured out. Like I’m the guru and epitome of health, fitness and wellness. They believe that I live my life in complete harmony; that I eat, drink, sleep, exercise in the most optimum way. I'm here to tell you this ain't the truth!
What is true is that I am striving, yet still struggling for that balance and harmony. I AM practicing good, healthy habits, however, it's practice, not perfection! And I definitely don't get it right all the time.
What’s been going on for me this year in business (background info)
This year (2024) I have been focusing deeply on a lot of different avenues within the Well-being by Bec Fletcher brand. My focus areas have been online shop development, on-demand content creation, online courses, in-person workshops and a new community class venture.
The Well-being Online Shop is so close to launching it's ridiculous! This project alone has been a 2+ year journey with this year being the peak of product design, development and testing. Every month one of my carefully chosen or crafted products arrives at the warehouse and it’s unbelievably exciting to open each box and see each come to life. Very soon you'll be able to shop some of my favourite massage tools, Pilates equipment and well-being products. Tools I personally reach for almost every day in my own self-care routines, plus things I think will help aid your Pilates/Yoga practices. This is a huge and exciting expansion of the Well-being by BF brand is something I am very much looking forward to sharing with you. Stay tuned in on my socials and emails for updates and when the launch will be.
Throughout the year I've also been pushing hard to get to 200 online videos for the on-damned site. This I have had to relax my expectations on, due to initial stages of burnout presenting mid year. Over the past month I have not been filming any new content to 1. take pressure off my plate and 2. to allow more time for other ventures and creative ideas and the online shop development. Now that Spring has arrived, I hope to return to the filming studio and resume online class creation. Will I reach 200 videos? I am unsure.... it's no longer a main goal and more of an idea, an "I'd like to have". Changing the necessity of this goal has been a part of restructuring my life and supporting my physical and metal health. I have the tendency to go all in on my projects. This makes it challenging for my brain to switch off and I can find myself working long and late hours. Practicing goal hierarchy is a tool I am learning to utilise to better respect my down time and give myself more relaxation and recovery. I'm no pro, but practice creates more consistency, which is all I'm after right now. I want to consistently choose my health and well-being because we all know, if you're burnt out then you can't help anyone, even yourself.
Look after yourself - you are the most important thing in your life.
As mentioned above, in-person workshops have been a focus of mine this year as well. I initially wanted a way to connect on a more personal level with my online community members as well as offer an opportunity for new people to meet me, learn about me and see/feel for themselves (in a non comital environment) why Pilates, Massage and Meditation with me is different. How it’s more wholistic than other online platforms. Those reading this who are my clients, know that I teach differently to other instructors. You know that my approach to my modalities is super wholistic, honest and always about you, the client. I am your personal guide, but each class is for you. For you to better your physical, mental and emotional well-being. This is why my business is called Well-being by Bec Fletcher. I’m not your average Pilates Instructor.
What I had also hoped for with my in-person workshops, but not anticipated such a strong response from, was seeing returning clients from years gone by. I have LOVED re-connecting with clients from my old studio, Shamata Pilates! It feels so nice to be regarded so highly still after so many years apart. Thank you for your kindness and ongoing friendship. Also your commitment to your Pilates practice, even when I closed that beautiful space and didn’t have anywhere for you to continue with me right away.
Over this year, I am happy to say that the in-person workshops have been pretty successful. So much so, that I already have plans for workshops next year (2025)!
A project idea that, until now, has been just discussion every Christmas, is now finally taking off. My partner’s family and some dear friends live deep south of Adelaide and whenever we spend Christmas break down there Tim (my partner) and I end up talking about how great it would be for the community to have accessible, affordable Pilates available.
Sooo… drum roll please! “Brrrrr….. doop, doop, tap, tap, tap.”
This Spring I am presenting a three part Come 'n' Try Mat Pilates Series at the Yankalilla Library. If you live down south or are traveling down south this Spring and would like to join a FREE Mat Pilates class then check out more info and book your place via the event page. All going well, I plan to expand this offering and develop a consistant class in Yankalilla or a neighbouring town. If you know someone who would benefit from this event then please share the event page link with them.
With everything you’ve just read on the ‘what’s going on’ within the Well-being by BF world, it's hard to imagine that there’s any time or room for much else. Yet, I still teach in-person classes 8-12x per week at a private studio near my home, I train myself at a gym 2-3x per week (mainly for injury prevention), plus, I work for Tim’s business as his design and marketing/social media manager. Teaching and working for Tim helps pay the bills and has funded a majority of the development of the on-demand site and products for the online shop.
This is usually where people say "I don't know how you do all that?!". And.... they'd be right because my body and brain don't know how to do that either.
Let’s discuss how all the above mentioned is affecting me.
The past two months (July/Aug) I have struggled with physical fatigue, brain fog, extreme tiredness, lack of motivation, longer periods of muscle soreness post exercise and irritability. All of these symptoms are not normal for me. They’re not meant to be normal for anyone. They are definite red flags that I am working too hard and have my fingers in too many pies.
When did I discover the burnout? It just crept in. That’s how is works. The increments of discomfort are small and easy to pass off as something else or something you could adjust your routine to fix, but overtime they begin to take over and take control of your life. Rather than you managing your stress or fatigue, it manages you. According to WebMd, there are four types of burn out. You can check out the article I am about to site here. At the time of writing this, I am presenting with three of the four types of burnout;
“Overload burnout: This happens when you work harder and harder, becoming frantic in your pursuit of success.”
”Neglect burnout: You may believe you’re incompetent or unable to keep up with your responsibilities. Such burnout can be closely connected to imposter syndrome.”
“Habitual burnout: happens when your physical and mental fatigue is chronic. You feel sad and your behaviour changes.”
Obviously presenting with three of the four types of burnout isn’t good.
On top of this there are also 12 stages of burnout. I wouldn’t say that I had, or am presently experiencing, all of them and even in order, but a few, yes. Here’s what I’ve noticed I’ve been experiencing;
• The need to prove myself; a heightened level of perfectionism has become more apparent and seeped out in unhealthy ways.
• The desire to work harder/longer; that need to finish and ‘just get it done’ is very apparent.
• More interpersonal conflicts; I have become irritable and feel I have less care factor. I have had much less tolerance than normal.
• Withdrawal; dealing with others or completing simple business tasks gives me a feeling of heaviness so I avoid them for as long as possible.
• Feeling empty; the exhaustion is real! I wake up tired, by lunch I want to be home on the couch and by 7-8pm I’m thinking of bed.
It’s horrible how it all melts together and grows so slowly that one day you just realise you can’t keep going anymore.
At the start of this blog post I mentioned that I am struggling with mild to moderate burnout. I would say that through researching burnout more for this post I still feel that’s accurate. It seems severe when you read the types and how many of the 12 stages I am experiencing. Yet, I want to be clear, I’m not feeling these at 100% capacity. I am also (luckily) not experiencing them at all hours of everyday. As an example, I feel them more on a Thursday and Friday after three early morning starts (6am and 7am) in a row with 10-12+ hour work days. Most days I switch between work roles a couple of times. Multiple jobs and inconsistent work loads is definitely taking its toll.
Photo by Daniel Purvis | Roaming Zen Studio, Magill South Australia
How will I make changes to heal from and resolve my burnout?
Whilst I'm still in the development and growth phase of my business it's difficult not to be over loaded. There's always a 'to do' list and always something to research, learn about or become the master of like (website development and short code). Never thought I'd need to know that, but I now know a little about short code, only out of necessity, but still it's something that wasn't planned for. That's business. Well.... to be more precise that's small/micro business. Bigger businesses have the capital to employ others and task out work. When you are micro, like me (as in a solo operation), you do it all. This is why burnout is so apparent in business ownership and management.
Actionable things I have already started to implement are;
• Saying no to more teaching covers. I’ve taken my fair share this year already. Unless the cover aligns perfectly with other plans or work loads, I’m saying no.
• Requesting time off from teaching. I have already requested a long weekend off and have posted my Christmas break. I am excited about this year’s holiday season as, when the public holidays fall, I will get 2.5 weeks off teaching!!! Hopefully I can stay away from my computer and take a well deserved technology break too.
• Spending more time at home for rest and recovery. I have asked Tim if we can not make too many weekend plans. We’ve been out on our new boat a lot and renovating our bathroom. When I’ve got the weekend off work, I want no plans for a while. Then I can see how I feel in the moment. If rest is required, I rest. If I feel motivated, we’ll do something.
• Taking myself for walks without headphones/earbuds. Walking in nature, music or podcast free is the ultimate active soother, in my opinion. I am enjoying listening to the birds the breeze and the creek water flowing. Yes! I am lucky enough to live by a creek with an abundance of nature.
Actionable things I will implement asap;
• Adjusting bed time for nights before early starts. I am going to bed around 9pm most nights. Now you might think that’s early. However, when you have to wake up at 4:50am, that makes it quite a long day. I am going to try slowly adjusting my bed time to 8:30pm then maybe even 8pm at the start of each week.
• Actively drink more water. I try to get 2L per day, but I haven’t been focusing on it very much. I want to be more prepared and provide myself with a 1L bottle to fill once or twice so that it’s easy to achieve and know how much I have to go.
• Increase time outside. A lot of my work has been inside on a computer designing, editing content or in a studio teaching. Now that the weather is warmer and brighter I will make this count and take more technology free walks. Natural Vitamin D is a great energy booster.
• Participate in a Juice Cleanse. Tim’s business is a cold pressed juice company that make delicious, all natural juice cleanses. I plan on doing a multi-day cleanse during spring. Re-set my body and mind.
• Practice my goal hierarchy. It’s definitely helped me thus far and in creating this very list of more self care actions.
Epilogue
You've just read a kind of thought monologue. I was going to put it in an update email, but then the words kept spilling out, through my keypad onto the screen and before I knew it I was writing a kind of essay. I thought about deleting it all and starting again, but a part of me has wanted to begin a blog for a long time. Another project! I know, I know. Ridiculous! Yet, maybe it's time? I always sit down to write my update emails and then end up on tangents I later delete. In a blog I can be less editorial and write longer pieces. If you've made it this far, then hopefully reading this and future blog posts will inspire you to take more of a mindful and active role in your well-being. I hope that you will feel inspired to choose more healthy habits for your body, mind and soul.
So... until the next essay. I wish you (and myself) good health & abundant happiness!
Photo by Izzy Pearce | Adelaide Himeji Gardens, South Australia
