Burnout while doing things you love is real.

and I didn’t realize it until it happened.

You can also get burnt out even when you do something you love. This quote has been on my timeline for these past few days.

I agree. I’m currently doing what I love—drawing and writing. I released some merchandise; some items were well-received while others were not. I posted some articles; some got good traffic while others did not. But I love doing it.

I even got some dream projects that I was looking forward to doing.

A few days ago, I read a post by a friend who runs her own small business. She talked about the ups and downs of running a small business. She loves what she does and business is good, but still, she faced challenges to her mental health and experience burnout.

I know burnout is real, but somehow I didn't realize it until it happened.

For the past few days, I have forced myself to work on something I actually love. Despite my strong will, I didn’t finish some of my to-do list. Some deadlines and targets were not met in time.

I feel tired all day, experience mood swings, doomscroll, and procrastinate. I also feel like a failure. I understand that these are symptoms of burnout. All of these, of course, are affecting my performance and won’t be good for my work.

I need to do something.

I feel a bit helpless, but then I took a breath and wrote on ChatGPT:

“What should I do when I feel burnt out?”

It suggested I take a walk outside, which I did walk outside for these past few days but I still feel the burnout. I even practice meditation and eat more greens, but the feeling was still there.

So I asked another question:

“What food will help me overcome burnout?”

It mentioned chocolate.

So I walked outside in the afternoon to the convenience store to get a chocolate bar.

It helped. I feel better now and can write and draw something for this post in the evening. Hopefully, I can start writing posts for my music and finishing other projects again tomorrow.

Please note: Yes, you can get burnt out and feel mental pressure even if you work on something you love. So be kind to yourself. Remember that we’re not getting any younger, and be wiser in organizing things.

I will not write tips about how to overcome burnout; you can always Google it and find what works best for you. Now let me have my goodnight sleep.

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