31/08/2026
The honest truth? Iāve ended up totally burned out.
And the strangest part is⦠I didnāt see it coming, because Iāve been having the best time.
Over the last few weeks Iād got to the point where I was falling asleep in the afternoons, getting out of breath on short walks and feeling completely shattered after a normal working day. People around me were worried enough that I ended up being admitted to urgent care and sent for a load of tests.
Thankfully, apart from a couple of deficiencies and vitamins that need sorting, nothing major showed up.
The long and short of it? I was completely exhausted.
And when I actually stopped and thought about it, I realised something slightly ridiculousā¦
I havenāt had a proper day off since January.
This year has been MEGA. Business has been busier than ever. Opportunities have kept coming. Iāve travelled somewhere every single month. Iāve met incredible people, worked on brilliant projects, had so many firsts and genuinely enjoyed almost every minute of it.
And I think thatās exactly why I didnāt recognise burnout.
Because I thought burnout had to come from being miserable, stressed or hating what youāre doing.
Turns out you can burn yourself out doing things you absolutely love.
So this weekend, I switched off.
I put my phone on sleep mode so nothing could come through. I stayed at home. I bought a wardrobe and put the bloody thing up š. I pottered around. And, most importantly, I genuinely didnāt think about work.
Was it easy for me? Absolutely not.
But the difference already is mad. I feel like I have energy again. Ideas are coming back. That creative part of my brain suddenly has some space to actually⦠create.
Itās reminded me that rest isnāt just about having a holiday or doing something fun.
Sometimes rest is doing NOTHING.
So my biggest lesson from all of this is to think about energy like anything else: if youāre constantly giving it out, at some point you have to replenish it.
And apparently another flight, another exciting project or another lovely dinner isnāt always replenishing it⦠even when youāre enjoying yourself. So going forwards Iāll be making more time for the āboringā days ā¤ļø