BURNOUT | MULTI-PASSIONATE | SELF-CARE

Chances are if you’re multi-passionate, you’ve experienced burnout at some point. The many passions that you have, your desire to share your gifts with the world, and the pressure of wanting to do “all the things” at once is a fast track to feeling overwhelmed, burnout, and generally OVER IT. 

Please hear me when I say: burnout doesn’t need to be a way of life as a multi-passionate, and it most certainly isn’t a badge of honor to wear. 

Maybe you’ve experienced burnout before and want simple systems you can put in place to make sure you don’t reach that edge again. Maybe you’re burnt out right now and want a solution that won’t add more tasks to your plate. Maybe you’ve never experienced burnout before and would like to keep it that way!

Regardless of where you are today, there’s something in article conversation that you’ll find supportive.

Let’s discuss these 4 ways to prevent burnout:

• How to use passive focus to normalize taking breaks. 
• Approaching avoiding burnout as a habit you can build with simple systems. 
• The importance of prioritizing. 
• Questions to ask yourself if you’re feeling burnt out already.

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Normalize taking breaks (using Passive Focus)

Passive Focus is the 3rd part of my 3-part Focus Framework that I teach for multi-passionates. You can learn the full framework by grabbing my e-book but here’s a super quick rundown for now.

There’s Intensive Focus which is for creating clarity and keeping your priorities aligned, active focus for getting shit done, and passive focus to help keep burnout at bay.

Passive Focus is a fancy way of saying TAKE AN INTENTIONAL BREAK! By intentional break I mean setting a timer to alert you to close your laptop and stretch, or adding in a break to your schedule by making it an event on your calendar.

Find a process that works for you. Another tip for using Passive Focus is to choose exactly what you want to do during your break in advance. This means that when it’s time to take your break you won’t have to make yet another decision. You can simply looked at what you had planed (read a few pages of your book, take a walk, stare out of the window) and do that.

When it comes to avoiding burnout, limiting the amount of decisions that you make every day helps.

The most important thing to remember is that Passive Focus IS focus and there is no need to feel any guilt around it.

The benefit of integrating Passive Focus into your day is that you’ll begin to normalize taking breaks. You’ll start to make it a HABIT, which brings me to our next point.

To learn more about my 3-part focus framework for creatives, grab my eBook!

Avoiding burnout is a habit that you can build

There’s an amazing book by James Clear called Atomic Habits and in it he shares this quote “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

If our goal is to avoid burnout, then what we actually get to do is create a SYSTEM for keeping burnout at bay. Rather than work against burnout, we can work on maintaining the system put in place.

So how do you build habits that help you keep the boogie monster of burnout from hiding under your bed and tormenting you? We’re gonna do one of my fave things, make some lists!

First, create a list of the things that help you feel ENERGIZED.

For example, I feel energized when I’m hydrated, when I take a few moments to myself in the morning before I start the workday, and after a nice long walk by myself. I also feel energized when I’m embracing delegation and getting the support that I need.

So now it’s your turn to make this list. I don’t want to offer you blanket statement advice because we all feel energized in different ways so be honest with yourself and focus on what YOU need to feel energized.

The next list we’re going to make is a list of the things that help you feel GROUNDED.

Feeling grounded means that your nervous system is calm, you feel a sense of ease and acceptance with what is happening and there is no anxiety present for you in that space. So on my list of things that make me feel grounded I would say:

Alone time, reading, journal, taking a long bath (in the middle of the day), being near a body of water, and cuddling with my partner and being affectionate.

What’s on your list of things that make you feel grounded? Go ahead and write them down.

The point of these two lists are for you to maintain a reference point and see where there are opportunities for creating systems. So if on your list you had that you’re energized from drinking water- a system you can put in place is keeping a nice big jug of water on your desk and refilling it throughout the day.

If you feel grounded from listening to guided meditations- You can create a system where you plan a Passive Focus break and listen to your mediation for 5 mins.

This is simple but it works. So often we abandon the things that help us feel energized, grounded, and nourished when we’re in work mode- but the truth is, that’s when we need these systems the most!

So we’ve covered how Passive Focus can help you normalize taking breaks and how to approach avoiding burnout as a habit that you can build. Now, let’s talk about one my favorite topics- prioritizing.

The importance of Prioritizing

This is for YOU my beautiful, brilliant, multi-passionate friend. If you don’t have your priorities clearly sorted then everything will feel urgent and the chances of you slipping into burnout will be very likely.

Good news, creating priorities doesn’t have to be stressful!

The first thing to do is adopt the mindset that all of your passions have a seat at the table but they don’t all have to speak at once. This is one of my favorite quotes and I’m going to keep repeating it because I want you to take some of the pressure off of yourself to do “all the things” right now today.

One of the thoughts I shared in a recent volume of What Joi Knows, my monthly newsletter (sign up here!), is that when we stop forcing everything to happen at once, things happen on a much more enjoyable and expansive timeline.

Begin looking at your projects or ideas as a part of a bigger picture, they’re each a brush stroke at first glance but if you zoom out, you’ll see a beautiful painting. The painting is so stunning because you have strokes that came “first” in the background and strokes that came later in the foreground, giving your painting a ton of depth and interest.

That’s how I want you to approach prioritizing. It’s less about choosing this or that, and more about choosing to “layer” or “stack” your priorities in a way where one leads to another in a way that feels energizing. Practice this mindset of thinking of your projects as a part of a larger whole, and from that place it will be much easier to choose your priorities.

Note: The Priority Mapping Method that I teach inside of my flagship program, Prioritize and Thrive teaches you exactly how to do this. You can check that out here if you want to take your ability to prioritize in a way that keeps burnout at bay to the next level.

What to do if you’re feeling burnt out already

Okay my love, we’re going to wrap up with what you can do if you’re already feeling burnout. I’m going to get straight to the point and give you a list of questions that you can ask yourself if you’re in this space.

Before we dive into the list, I want you to know two things.

1. You’re not alone! Burnout happens to the best of us ESPECIALLY multi-passionates

2. You will get through this and you’ll come out understanding way more about your energetic bandwidth than you knew before.

If you’re already experiencing burnout ask yourself the following questions:

Have I overcommitted myself to too many projects?

Am I willing to take a closer look at what actually needs to be a priority right now and what can come later?

Do I have SIMPLE systems in place that help me feel both energized and grounded?

Am I willing to begin to integrate simple systems into my day?

How much social media am I consuming?

Am I willing to delete the Instagram app for a few days so that I can come back to center?

Am I asking for and receiving support?

Am I willing to ask for help with even one small task, starting today?

Am I forgetting to celebrate how far I have come and my daily accomplishments?

Am I willing to take intentional time to sit with all that I have already accomplished so that I can let go of the pressure of needing to do more more more?

Have I opened up to anyone about this?

Am I willing to call a trusted friend or talk to my therapist about how I’m feeling so that I don’t have to go through this alone?


Start there, be gentle with yourself, and know that you’re going to get through this.

Recap: How to Avoid Burnout as a Multi-Passionate

• Use Passive Focus to normalize taking breaks
• Approach avoiding burnout as a habit that you can build with simple systems
• Embrace the importance of Prioritizing 
• Ask yourself some key questions if you’re feeling burnt out already

Did you like this post? There’s more where that came from! Check out the Multi-Passionate Mastery Podcast.

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