August 28, 2024
Burnout is a serious issue, and the stressors that drive it are no joke. However, there's good evidence that elevating the fun factor in your down-time can be an effective recovery activity. Here's a quick overview of why fun works, and how to re-orient your non-work time towards the kind of enjoyment that benefits your health over the long run.
Why does fun help to fight burnout?
The right kind of enjoyment reliably switches your body out of fight-or-flight and into recovery mode. Some activities will keep your body very active: salsa dancing and rock climbing are two good examples. Others are more sedentary, including creative pursuits like drawing or writing. The key is that you genuinely enjoy the activity for its own sake, and can lose yourself in it completely, at least for a few minutes at a time.
When your mind is fully occupied with what you're doing, it's impossible to ruminate about what's stressing you, helping to switch off your stress response. These activities then effectively activate your rest-and-digest or tend-and-befriend systems, putting your body into recovery mode.
Note that if you're feeling very stressed, it may initially be hard to get into play mode. In this case, take it iteratively: try a relaxation exercise, or practise some reassuring self-talk. Remind yourself that everything you're stressed about can wait, and you'll be much better placed to tackle it once you've had some recovery time.
The best (and worst) activities for you
It may take some experimentation to learn what works best for you. If there's an activity you used to enjoy but haven't made time for lately, that's a great place to start. Extraverts may prefer team activities that increase or widen their social connections; introverts might prefer something a little more solo, or at least less socially demanding. The key is to run some informed experiments until you find what's right for you.
A couple of watch-outs: beware the tendency to choose something you feel you need to be good at, or to set unrealistic expectations for how quickly you'll progress. Look for whether you're enjoying the activity for its own sake, rather than whether you're proficient.
Screen-based activities like passively consuming streaming content or scrolling on social media are unlikely to fit the bill. These disrupt your dopamine system, creating a double-whammy: they take up time you could use for something more genuinely enjoyable, and they make it much harder for other subsequent activities to have a beneficial effect.
When fun feels impossible
If you really can't think of anything that's intrinsically enjoyable, or you've tried something you remember enjoying but just can't find the fun factor anymore, it's a good idea to look for 1:1 support. An inability to feel joy is called anhedonia, and it's a tell-tale sign of depression.
If you have access to an Employee Assistance Program through your paid work, it's best to reach out to a counsellor directly. If not, make some time with your primary healthcare provider. We'd love to see you back here when you're feeling better.
