Burnout and fatigue are terrible states to be in.

It kills our projects, our drive, our purpose... I could keep going. But what is burnout? And how can you avoid it when you're doing too much?

Take it from someone who is always working on around five projects at the same time: burnout has nothing to do with time management.

It's a matter of energy management.

Burnout is what happens when we run out of energy, not when we run out of time.

Time vs. Energy:

When we think of time management, we think of optimization. Of getting more done in less time.

Although I'm a big fan of doing more in less time, focusing on that as the main metric is a sure recipe for burnout.

A year ago, I focused so much on time management I ended up in bed for two weeks. I was unable to focus, move, or create. Through stress and lack of rest, I developed an inflammation so terrible in my body, it forced me to stop completely. And I lost a lot of progress because of it.

When we think of energy management, we think of sustainability instead. Of what it takes to keep going for months or years. Of how to burn bright and long, not burn bright and burn out.

Time management asks us to do whatever it takes to get things done.

Energy management asks us to do whatever it takes to be in the right state to get things done.

Time management asks us to do more, more, more.

Energy management asks us to prioritize what is truly important for us.

Time management asks us to work according to the clock.

Energy management asks us to work according to our human nature.

Time management leads to burnout.

Energy management leads to fulfillment.

So how do we manage our energy?

Energy management techniques

As I said, at any given moment I am working on over 5 projects at the same time. And after the experience I had with burnout last year, I have spent months learning ways to make that sustainable. This has required a combination of listening to my body's cues, prioritizing happiness, and reflecting on what feeds my energy versus draining it.

I will divide the techniques I use into three parts, which we'll cover during the next three weeks of the newsletter:

• Physiological: the ones that relate to the body

• Focus: the ones that relate to attention

• Language: the ones that relate to the state of the mind

I am dividing them this way following Tony Robbins' triad philosophy. This explains how our physiology, our focus, and our language create our emotional states.

Today, we'll start with the body.

Physiological energy management

1. Motion

Energy is heavily dependent on emotion. And emotion is heavily dependent on motion.

This means that energy is heavily dependent on motion.

I'm not here to tell you to work out. Working out is great, but it's not the only way to activate the energy in your body. Here are my three favorite non-workouts to boost your energy, at any point in the day:

2. Nutrition

Once again, I'm not here to tell you to go on a diet.

For me, nutrition and energy are more a matter of listening to my body and what it needs. Often, our body naturally asks us for fruit, for water, for protein, but we're simply not listening closely enough.

Nutrition is a highly personal thing. The needs of each body are different, and there isn't a one size fits all. That being said, here are some foods and drinks I've identified that give me a boost of energy:

• Water with lemon: forget about the weight loss tips about this. I don't know about that, but I know water with lemon is a great energy booster, especially in the morning.

• Kefir and Kombucha: I've found these probiotics make my digestion work a lot better. In turn, my body spends less energy processing the foods I eat. And that results in me having more energy throughout the day.

• Fruits: I love fruits. They are a great way to increase your energy. If you have a healthy amount of fruit in the morning, the natural sugars will keep you going for most of the day. I especially love raspberries and blueberries for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.

• Chocolate: this is one that I know is very personal. Chocolate and chocolatey things give me a boost of energy simply because they make me feel good emotionally, and as we stated before, energy is dependent on emotion.

• Protein: eating lots of protein is crucial for me as a dancer. I feel the difference in my energy on the days when I don't eat enough of it. Protein can be found in meats, eggs, lactose, and some legumes.

These are foods and drinks that work for me. They may be different than the ones that work for you! I found this through trial and error, so my real recommendation here would be to learn to listen to your body and its needs. Keep track of how you feel after eating different foods.

You'll start to notice patterns in foods that give you energy vs. foods that drain your energy.

3. Rest

When we think of rest, we often think of sleeping. But this is not the only type of rest our body needs. In fact, there are seven types of rest. This idea was popularized by Dr. Saundra Dalton Smith, who found even high-quality sleep didn't fix her fatigue and burnout.

I believe this is the key to my system to avoid burnout: even when I'm not sleeping at my best, I make sure I get the other types of rest. I keep my mind and soul in good shape.

We need to understand the type of "tired" we're feeling to know what type of rest we need.

So what are these seven types of rest?

1. Physical: here, we have sleep, which is passive. But we also have other active ways to rest: yoga, stretching, getting a massage, and walking. Doing things that make our body feel nice.

2. Mental: this is the one you probably need when you feel brain fog, when you feel insomnia, or when you're unable to focus. Options for mental rest include meditation, journaling, and grounding exercises.

3. Social Rest: this one also has an active and passive component: actively, we rest by being around people who make us feel alive, loved, and happy. Passively, we rest by taking time for ourselves and giving ourselves company.

4. Spiritual rest: this one varies for each person's belief system. But overall, it is fulfilled by a notion of being part of something bigger. By a feeling of purpose. Some people find this in religion, some find it in helping others, and some find it in doing meaningful work.

5. Sensory rest: we feel sensory exhaustion when our mind processes too many inputs for too long. This may be more sensible for some people than for others. My favorite way to get sensory rest is to be in my room, listen to some soft music or to the silence, focus on my breath, and just be with myself.

6. Emotional rest: emotional rest is what we get when we can put down our walls, and show what's truly inside. The good and the bad. This can happen around some special people, or by yourself. For me, emotional rest looks like going to therapy, writing poetry, and talking to my favorite people.

7. Creative rest: creativity is more than art. It's problem-solving, it's innovation, it's appreciation. Passive ways of creative rest include appreciating beauty, natural or artistic. Active ways of creative rest look like creating just for yourself. Letting yourself have fun and put no expectations on what you're making. For some people, this may be cooking, drawing, writing, or decorating a garden.

Learning to identify the types of exhaustion allows us to identify the type of rest that we need. And we can learn that we don't just rest by sleeping. Rest can also look like meditation, journaling, being with yourself. And other times, it can also be moving, socializing, creating.

Rest, how I see it, is about finding what would recharge the part of you that feels low energy right now.

I often have nights in which I go to bed at 2 am because I was creating something, or having a great conversation. And the next day, even if I feel a little sleepy, I never feel exhausted. This happens because the activity I was doing at 2 am recharged my energy in other ways. In ways I probably needed more at that moment.

Introspection: the real key

The true hack for physiological energy management is to learn to listen to yourself and your needs.

Sometimes, your body needs to sleep. Sometimes, your body will recharge faster if you get up and dance.

Sometimes, you need to eat more fruit. And sometimes, a piece of chocolate cake is just what your body needed to feel better.

Sometimes, you need to rest by yourself. Sometimes, you just need to spend time with nicer people.

If you learn to read your body's cues and trust what it's asking of you, you'll avoid burnout with a lot more ease.

We'll continue exploring the mental and emotional components of burnout next week!

Until then, here are some art recs!

Art Recs

1. Movie: All That Jazz. If you really to see the consequences of burnout up close, watch this movie. It's the story of Bob Fosse, a choreographer who committed to his work so much, he forgot he was a person too. A fun fact about this one is that he made this movie about himself, and it was pretty much a premonition for the next 10 years of his life.

2. Song: Twenty Something. A song that reminds me that we're not running out of time, even when it feels like it.

3. Book: Keep Going by Austin Kleon. This book focuses on how to create art sustainably. Austin Kleon is a creativity expert, and this book has some great principles to follow if you're an artist struggling with burnout.

I hope the rest of your week feels like eating something that makes your heart feel great, like jumping and dancing with your favorite people, like a surge of creativity.

Until next Wednesday,

-Vale, The Friendly Artist