cleaning my room always works! any nearby clutter first, then moving out from there. knowing my bed is clean, sheets are super nice and fresh? there's a big comfort and relaxing feeling in that

i take a full step back from what i'm burnt out from because i don't bounce back as quick as other people. if the burnout is from work, i'll take a few days off. i spend that time away to focus on other things. whether that is self care or revisiting old interests/hobbies.

if it's just an acute case of burnout... i find bathing to be a good way to wind down. spending time outside of the house too. i love to kayak and swim in the nearby springs. even walking through my local wildlife preserve.

to get back into what i want to, it's a long process of figuring out what i like about it but what burnt me out in the first place and how to avoid that happening again. :thumbs_up:

Try something new! Step out of your comfort zone. Absence makes the heart grow fonder... I think it's easy to throw yourself into one hobby or activity that you really, really love, but when it's all you've got, it can be suffocating... I've been getting active ever since the sun came out in the spring, and it's made writing/art, which used to be something I was already starting to tire out on, into something that felt like home when I finally came back to it. I'm deeefinitely not an active person (even now...), but picking up a hobby I wouldn't usually think of helped me feel both more well-rounded as a person, and made me feel even more refreshed when returning to something familiar.

Definitely agree with the fact that it's nice to just get outside in general, too, esp. because RP is such an 'online' hobby... bedrot is bad for the soul (love my blanket though)

• try a little at a time - as they always say, you don't want to canonball right into the deep end, you should slowly wade into the water. Just starting out by doing the little things and getting into the nitty gritty later usually helps.
• GET A BUDDY! - my favorite tip is shadowing, have someone alongside you in call or just there present and having them doing something, not always the same activity, usually makes me feel motivated. This unfortunately requires human interaction
• If it's not sparking joy anymore, maybe let it rest - I use this mindset for characters too where if I'm not having fun with it anymore, maybe its better to put it to bed. This applies to old hobbies too where if you're just not finding the same joy you used to, it might be better to let it rest. You can always circle back to it when you do have the energy and life is kinder to you.

I don’t know how to beat it really, other than taking a break, focusing on other things, and remembering to rest when I can. It’s very easy for me to go hard on something, and then get burnt out for years. Sometimes it takes asking myself questions such as... “why did I burn out in the first place?” And dealing with those specific things. Sometimes the reasons aren’t that obvious, or are things I have to work around instead of defeat.

But another measure I try to do nowadays is preventing it as much as possible. I set limits for how long I focus on a hobby and how much time I decide to dedicate to it. I set times where say, I’m writing a post, and where I’m not. I’m someone who forgets to eat or drink water on free time days even when I’m doing nothing, so I especially make sure to tend to my health, get up and walk around if it’s a hobby I’m sitting a lot for.

It’s so easy for me to focus on one thing, and this is useful in getting things done fast, but it’s also a fast way for me to just burn out. So, I feel like it’s important to increase the variety, either switch it up with said hobby, or do another hobby, maybe pick up something new, or even mildly related.

If you can’t prevent it, just know that your hobbies will always be waiting for you when you come back. Taking care of yourself and separating yourself from things that burn you is a fair decision. You can take a break for a while, or even quit entirely, and can pick things back up again.

I think it is easy to focus on the mental aspect of burnout and forget about the physical aspects of it as well. This hobby takes energy you may not be setting yourself up to have.

If you are deficient in a lot of vitamins because you are subsisting on mostly spaghetti-o's, your cognitive processing will be less than ideal. Exercise can also improve focus and concentration. Lately I've been posting after working out/cardio and then taking creatine (used to improve muscle recovery but also improves brain fucntion), and the words flow like butter.

i? had never considered the whole vitamins aspect, and how that plays into roleplaying!! wow!!

definitely going to be remembering to buy vitamins here. maybe that's partly why my writing has been suffering lately!!!

thanks so much for sharing that knowledge, i'll make sure to keep that handy (:

You're welcome, the best quality vitamins are usually found in food but vitamin D, iron, and magnesium are good supplements most people stuggle to get enough of through diet alone.

On that note, there's something called HALT which is used to discuss common universal stressors. While a tool mostly used for pinpointing triggers for those going through recovery after addiction, these stressors are universal and useful to consider in general!

So if you're feeling burnt out and irritable, take a moment and HALT, checking your mental state for:
1) Hunger (Have I eaten recently?)
2) Anger (Did something upset me?)
3) Loneliness (Has it been awhile since I socialized with someone?)
4) Tiredness (Do I need a nap?)