symptoms of burnout

Prepping for vacation: The Burnout Queens style

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Here we were rushing, working, preparing, writing, and recording our latest programme all before the lovely relations joined us for two weeks of hols in the hot english seaside.

We were working to a deadline but it was a mindset and an arbitrary date that, if kept, would see us exhausted and grumpy for the hols (I wish they weren’t coming so soon) instead of anticipating them with joy (can’t wait to see them again)!  So we decided it’s joy rather than exhaustion. 

How did we turn it around in our favour. You know the answer. We did it with Burnout Queen-style!

  • Listening to our own wisdom (walking the walk)
  • Being mindful of our bodies screaming ‘stop already’
  • Prioritising us over the work (front & centre)
  • Knowing when to say ‘no’ and let it go

That meant we stopped early and left the outstanding bits for our return. The old burnout personality would have thought ‘eeek not a wise decision, better get it finished because you may not be able to find that groove you were in’.   Well that groove was turning into a right old rut and we’ve learned that leaving it can be a far wiser choice.  We had written down where to begin again and what we wanted to say in an outline, so we were covered.  Done with the prep work, all we needed on  return were the sparkly touches.

We trusted how we were feeling and made decisions about our health before digging in and running ourselves into the ground.  We were not going to spoil this vacation. No way, no how. These Burnout Queens had palaces and castles to conquer and lots and lots of tea and cake to eat!

By golly that’s exactly what happened.  Palaces, teas and castles delighted all of us and on return to work, the new programme was sparkled up and launched!

Next time you have a deadline with something wonderful as it’s reward make sure you have the energy left to enjoy it fully.  Remember to prepare for your vacation in true Burnout-Queen-style.

The programme?  We’ve called it …

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This video will give you the complete scoop.  Click here  Enjoy!

Love, The Burnout Queens xx

 

Seeking Beauty

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“Oh I can’t afford beautiful things”…

How often I hear this from women who are in jobs they hate, barely making ends meet and thinking they won’t find beauty in their life until something changes.

Well, something can change and that something is how we seek beauty.

You don’t have to purchase anything to have beauty in your life.  Here’s one of the ways I seek beauty.

Stress instantly gets replaced by beauty when I walk into a beautiful florist shop.  Gorgeous flower displays in a shop window entice me in.  I just let the colours, smells and atmosphere start filling my brain with happiness.  It’s a beautiful thing.

As always, thank you Florian the Florist, Hove!  It’s always a delight to step inside your shop!

Love, The Burnout Queens xx

 

 

10 Years Stronger and loving it

strong-womanThe Realm’s weekly postcard with it’s assignment arrived in my inbox this past Sunday. It made me think about the question and how I would answer it, and so I posted in our private facebook page.

Then I thought, this is important, so I’m sharing it here as well.

 

The assignment for this week’s The Realm postcard asked our members to think not about their age, but about what or how age has changed them for the better over the last 10 years.  So here was my answer….

” 10 years on and I am stronger and more able to say NO to people and things that aren’t right for me.  How did I come to this?  After several ‘crazy and manipulative’ people in my life pre UK and here as well, I can clearly and quickly see the train wreck coming towards me, so I say NO and get out.  It may look like I’m a rude or unfriendly person, but having experienced prolonged relationships with friends, colleagues and family members who were not good for my health and mind, I have learned I have a choice to look after me.”

Here are my examples (and feel free to leave yours in the comments below)

  • If someone blames me for something they clearly did themselves…they are banished quickly (my new Burnout Queen rules)
  • If someone undermines, smears or belittles me and what I know in order to bolster their own inadequacies…they are banished immediately.
  • If someone wants to talk only and always about themselves, and never asks about me…they are given a few chances…and then they are banished forever!

Some people will judge this as b**chy (and believe you me they have and on several occasions convinced me I was) but I don’t mind because 10 years on, my heart is in the right place and I am firm about what I have learned the hard way.

Life post-burnout is ‘very’ different thankfully.

Love, The Burnout Queens xx

 

Rest for the Soul

dandelionWe awoke to a great new research study being talked about on BBC Breakfast earlier this week.  It’s called The Anatomy of Rest and perhaps you’ve heard about it by now.  If not, let us share some of the findings with you.

We are talking about REST, which is not to be confused with Sleep.  There has been plenty of research conducted on sleep patterns, amount of sleep, sleep deprivation, etc, etc, etc.  For the first time there is a study on rest.  18,000 people  from 134 countries took a Rest Test by BBC Radio 4 and Wellcome Collection’s researchers Hubbub.  What do you think they found?

The findings are bang on with what we at The Burnout Queens and all our community of highly sensitive and exhausted women know all too well.  We need and want more rest!

2/3 of the people in this study said they wanted more rest.  When asked what would rest look like, it came in different forms, everything from sleeping, sipping coffee, sitting in front of the TV and doing ultramarathons.  The top ‘rest activity’ came as a surprise to the research team… Reading. The other top activities were ‘being in nature’, music and being alone.  It seems the majority of us need and want regular solitude to rest and restore ourselves.

So why don’t we rest more?  The report showed we feel guilty when we squeeze out time for ourselves.  I don’t think this is surprising to women.  We feel selfish and self-centred (which means our guilt and stress rises) when we take time away from everything and everybody else in our lives to have a quiet moment for us. Women are already living in a state of exhaustion and don’t think they have the ‘time’ to recoup.  We have to turn that notion on it’s head. The ultimate gift we can give ourselves is to consciously and deliberately create an inner calm that will make us more resilient to the outside world.

Now here’s the easy part. The Burnout Queens have designed a fast, simple and extremely effective group of  21audios and videos that help you create that inner calm and resilience needed in your everyday life.  Quiet the Buzz of Everyday Life…creating calm for the Highly Sensitive Woman can be done anywhere, anytime; walking, shopping, waiting for the kids, on your break, waiting for your latte.  Promise.

Why not see for yourself and solve the dilemma of rest, calm and quiet within yourself?!?   Watch our video about Quiet the Buzz and get yourself started now

Embrace the calm!

With love, The Burnout Queens

 

Quirky doesn’t mean crazy!

sunglass FreddieThis page on our website (you’ve been to our website right!) gets people breathing a sigh of relief every time they read it!

If you’ve heard you are ‘too’ something all your life, you might want to check out our Top 14 ‘too’ words that sum up being highly sensitive.

Have a read and remember, it doesn’t make you crazy…just sort of quirky.

 

Top 14 “YOU’RE TOO” phrases Highly Sensitive People hear!

  1. ‘too’ emotional
  2. ‘too’ shy
  3. ‘too’ intense
  4. ‘too’ serious
  5. ‘too’ moody
  6. ‘too’ artsy
  7. ‘too’ idealistic
  8. ‘too’ neurotic

There are more obviously but it all ends with You’re Just Too Sensitive!

Have you heard these ‘too’ words all your life?  They don’t make you crazy, although we bet you have felt like you were every time you heard them.  No, these just mean you are a HSP – Highly Sensitive Person.

At the Burnout Queens we celebrate being Highly Sensitive!  We’re HSPs ourselves, and we are No shrinking violets!   Being an HSP means you are strong, bold, creative, quirky, and much more.  Find out what it really means to be highly sensitive and how it affects everything from your identity to your relationships.

Highly Sensitive

The #1 feedback on this page is…”thank you, I thought I was just crazy all my life!” Nectar to our ears!

Embrace the True You!   The Burnout Queens xx

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