Post Covid Burnout
The marketing team at Pampers need a pay rise. I just watched an advert about the intensity and the depth of babies’ feelings when everything is new to them. The sight of sunshine, the sound of birdsong and the feel of an uncomfortable nappy on their new born amazing skin - hence buy our wonderful nappies that will help soothe and help that sensitivity. New mother + pampers advertising = done deal.
It got me thinking. (Here we go). It got me thinking about us. By us I mean this grown-up tribe of post pandemic new-borns. The first generation to exist of this type of epidemic to dance in the rise and fall of constant adaption and the humungous load on our mental, physical, and financial health, emerging into a new slightly changed world.
Are we experiencing extreme reactions to sight, scent and sound that is making us more sensitive and reactive? Easily chaffed, easily confused and easily lost? In desperate need of love and healing? Yes probably.
A commonality I’ve experienced when seeing friends and clients (ranging from my close knit crew to passing conversations with strangers) is that we are all exhausted and are experiencing post Covid burnout and massive sensitivities. We are desperate for connection, to fulfil social engagements and get those relationships that mean so much to us back on track. However, are we over doing it and how much of this is affecting us and how we feel about ourselves?
We have emerged from this desperately tricky time (like a slightly tipsy mum in the middle of the day leaving the cinema) A little confused, a little disorientated, you’ve had a fab time but where are we going next please? The pressure to socialise like we once did but understandably we aren’t the same people we once were. Pre pandemic me is not the same as post pandemic me for a number of reasons. I’m sure you feel the same.
In general we are far more used to our own energy and space and doing things at a rate singularly to our own pace. We have chosen our bubbles and tribe conservatively, and we have had to be more resilient spending more time in our heads thinking about what we are willing to endure and what doesn’t serve us any longer. Anything that goes against that almost feels like a violation. While I think this is a largely positive way of thinking, because we are prioritising our very real needs first, it is tough to evolve back and compromise on things that we may now find triggering.
I spoke to one friend at length about the guilt she now feels if she hasn’t packed her weekends out at risk of losing the new opportunities that are now available post pandemic. Night in? God no! We’ve been inside, contained by our four walls for too long. To pass this up suggests laziness and a lack of vitality . . . Right?! And God forbid we are considered boring . . .
Personally, as a coach I always look for what story lies beneath the statement. What I hear is fear and also trying to reclaim something we’ve lost. Fear that we may have lost something vital in the pandemic - our identity. The social butterfly, the connector, the party boy/girl, the organiser, the most organised mum in the group, the salesman that does business breakfast, lunch and dinner . . . Big birthday nights vs House Party quizzes, bottomless brunches vs Zoom cocktails. . . The list goes on. But also, that terrible fear that we don’t know when our freedom might be taken away from us again. ‘We didn’t see this coming, so what next?’ we collectively cry. May as well make the most of it – shouldn’t we?!
I personally spent the month of October on planning overdrive. It left me financially and energetically depleted. They were all events and people that I longed to see, the problem was when I did get the chance for a quiet night in, instead of looking after myself, I had extreme cases of FOMO. But why though? I cannot get the time back that I lost in the pandemic and that is a fact we all have to accept. This constant overdrive is a knee jerk reaction to the time we lost regardless of if we can actually maintain it.
In short, we should not attempt to reclaim anything. This is a new day and a new you. A new present. We need to reclaim who we are at our core regardless of pre or post Covid. This is where coaching can really help you. Through a series of conversation, tools, and visualisation we can help understand our new identities, the values we treasure most and what we are willing to put up with or not put up with now we’ve all been given time out on the naughty step that we didn’t see coming.
As your coach I want you to use your time wisely, yes of course socialise, we are naturally social creatures and function within social hierarchies (whether we like it or not) However, prioritise your mental and physical wellbeing. My wish for you is that I want you to get to a place where fear of social exclusion and regret just isn’t a thing because you are living so strongly in your life purpose that you feel untouchable to other people’s judgements. A place where you are living purely for you and in your own energy and power that the only thing that matters is where you are right now and where you are going next.