How To Use Your Memorial Day Weekend To Reset From Career Burnout

Memorial Day Weekend means it’s almost the middle of the year. The winter holidays are over, and the weather is warm. And although the weather is nicer, it doesn’t mean you’re in the best mindset when it comes to work. If you’re feeling burned out from your career, here’s how to use the time off to relax and reset.

Use Memorial Day weekend as a time to reflect. If you reflect, you can know what to pay attention to in the future. Ask yourself, “What is the cause of my burnout?” Places to guide the stress assessment can include your workload, your coworkers, or stress about money. Then, ask yourself what would help… Budgeting? Switching departments? Making a more sustainable budget? There likely isn’t a way to solve all of your life’s problems in 72 hours, but identifying what is causing the most substantial issue in your career is the first step in having a pleasant return that you may truly look forward to.

Prioritize rest this weekend. This is especially important if your job takes up a majority of your time. Prioritize rest over optimization and efficiency this weekend. For part of this, you can take inspiration from your Sunday reset routine. Reset your space – because your environment affects your mental health more than you may realize. Do a brain dump – get all of your thoughts out on paper and outside of your head. Take a deep breath, stretch, or spend time outside. Consider turning off Teams/Slack notifications or sleeping in a bit later.

Remember the hobby you were obsessed with as a kid? Why not break it out again? Reconnect with who you are outside of work, and realign yourself with your personal goals. Whether you’d like to take time to spend with your kids, read the book you’ve been meaning to finish, or spend time with friends without networking undertones, you can and should do it all. Restablishing your identity outside of work will not only help to fix your burnout, but will also help prevent it from happening again in the future. If you start a new hobby, it’s important to do it without any productivity goals. Do what it is, regardless of how good you are or how productive you feel the task is. If you’re struggling to find a way to reconnect with yourself, ask yourself these questions from Forbes: 

• What’s something I’ve always wanted to do but “never had time” for?
• Who are the friends or family members I want to reconnect with?
• If I weren’t working, what would I actually enjoy doing?

This is a great way to eliminate any stress about going back to work and become excited for the return. Make a plan for when you return to help maintain your newfound peace. This does not manifest as an extreme change. Some examples for maintaining a relaxed state when returning to work are setting rules for yourself, like “No checking emails after 7 pm,” taking an actual lunch break twice a week instead of working through it, or blocking off focus time on your Google Calendar to ensure you’ll get to your priorities. There are even small yoga practices you can do throughout your day. These little ways of adding self-care to your workday can make a big impact. Choose one, two, or three of them to implement for a smoother return to work. Think back to your stress audit when coming up with your survival guide.