You may have noticed that it’s been a few weeks since I posted something. It’s not for lack of trying to write, but more about having a hard time getting something complete written down. Over the past year, Steph and I have posted MANY recipes. This is mostly because cooking and baking and some of our favorite hobbies. However, I have been feeling a bit of burnout around cooking and baking recently. This makes it really hard to write the kinds of posts I have gotten used to over the past year.

I think it’s time to give a little update and talk about burnout. Also enjoy the nature photos I have taken over the past few months because I think it’s really comforting.

Handling Burnout

I know we’ve talked about this in previous posts, but I think now is a good time for a reminder (for myself and you). Burnout is really annoying, honestly. It can come from so many avenues and impact so many different parts out our lives.

Recently, I have been struggling with burnout related to writing (sorry blog) due to writing so many documents at work over the past few months. The idea of writing MORE when I get home from writing all day feels almost impossible sometimes.

I have also been feeling social burnout. I talk to so many people all day at work. Usually, it’s totally fine, but when I am overwhelmed it can become far too much. It impacts my interest and willingness to have a social life outside of work, which is a real bummer.

I have also been feeling burnout related to cooking in general, or creating recipes I can post about. When I am feeling overwhelmed, I just want to make something comforting and typically don’t remember to take photos or even remember the full list of ingredients or process I am using.

Something I am actively working on to alleviate these feelings of burnout is to take more time for myself and prioritize the things that make me feel good and like there is more to my life than the things that are overwhelming me. I think these feelings are pretty common for people, especially when you have a demanding job that you love. I really hope talking about these things is helpful for some of you.

A HUGE part of that is…

Reconnecting with Childhood Hobbies

Steph talked about this recently in this post and it seems to be a decently common journey people are on this year. I think it’s easy to forget the things that give you true joy when you are feeling overwhelmed or simply getting caught up in routines.

However, it is SO important to do the things that make you feel like yourself and reconnecting with childhood hobbies is a great example of that.

Most recently, my husband bought me a new weighted-keyboard to get into piano again. I played for about 8 years as a child and had so much fun with it. After almost 15 years away from it, going back to playing and trying to remember the songs I used to know feels a little bit like coming home. At 13 years old, my favorite song to Play was Bella’s Lullaby from Twilight. You can bet I’m working on mastering that song again!!

Speaking of twilight, another hobby I have been prioritizing is reading. This isn’t really something new, I have always been and will always be an avid reader. However, I have been making sure to implement dedicated time to wind down and read. Reading has always been so comforting and I hope it always is that.

Other hobbies I have been rediscovering are music (listening to some of my favorites from when I was a kid), Makeup (I went through a 3 year phase of not using it after absolutely LOVING to play with makeup), playing video games (I was a BIG Sims girl growing up and I have recently been getting back into playing again).

All of this personal experience is meant to say, do the things that make you feel good and that are fun for you. If something isn’t fun anymore, either find a way to shake things up or take a break!! More than anything, be patient and kind with yourself.

I hope you all enjoyed this absolute brain dump.

Thanks for reading – Hailey

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