The Five Midday Rituals That Prevent Me From Burning Out

Years ago, while I was still working in Italy, I passed out during an important meeting. The company CEO was there, and that was probably the most embarrassing moment of my whole career.

At that time, I used to skip lunch and spent my free time working on some important tasks. I wanted to be the most productive employee in the department and impress my manager. It had become an obsession. I thought that by doing that I would progress quickly up the company ranks.

However, it turned out to be just the opposite. The day I fainted was only the beginning of a severe burn-out. I felt exhausted, experienced insomnia and anxiety, and struggled to focus at work.

After a few weeks, I caught the flu, and it was so bad that I had to stay home for two weeks. I was desperate. However, that forced break was exactly what I needed, although I didn’t realize it at the time.

You see, it’s easy to let our daily responsibilities take over and to become totally stressed out. And it’s easy to prioritize our career over our well-being, especially when we’re young and inexperienced.

However, burn-out is real, it’s always just around the corner. And you experience it when it’s too late to do anything about it.