Battling burnout: how do you unwind?

         




I've officially been on vacation for a week now--although last week I was still doing some editing and checking and answering of email. This week, however, the Little, Brown offices are closed, so I have the peace of mind that no new business is being done. I still have some reading and editing to do, but I can do it in small doses, on my own time, which feels luxurious.

This has been an incredibly busy year, both in my personal and professional life, and for the past month or so I've been feeling incredibly burnt out--the "what is this all for" type of burnout. So, I'm trying to take this vacation to unwind and reinvigorate myself.

For me, unwinding means doing relatively mindless things. I spent last week doing things like watching TV (I've been catching up on shows like Glee, How I Met Your Mother, The Mindy Project, The Good Wife, The Voice, HGTV shows, and Food Network shows), seeing a movie (Argo), playing video games (Tetris and Fruit Ninja), napping (I've taken a nap almost every day of my vacation so far), running and walking in Prospect Park while listening to audiobooks (finally finished the Steve Jobs biography), reading the entire internet, eating, and cooking. I plan to take this week to read (I'm reading In the Woods by Tana French right now), meet up with friends, and finally tackle those wedding thank-you cards. And yes, edit.

The Blue Rose Girls recently talked about what we all do when we're frustrated or need a break. Some of the answers: yoga, meditation, food and alcohol, chocolate, walks, and crap TV (including Jersey Shore).

How do you all unwind?

Happy holidays, everyone!