Add more margin, avoid burnout

The other day I was talking to a client and she was telling me about how she's perpetually trying to find a better way to “get it all done.”

She was doing all the right things…

Working out, following her new meal plan, and she was being pretty consistent overall.

But she was still experiencing some serious feelings of burn out.

Maybe you can relate?

The problem wasn’t in her routine. It was the fact that there were no margins in that routine.

It's very rare to find people who feel drained because they’re doing too little. But it is super common to find adults who are feeling that way because they’re doing too much, especially when it occurs without space in the grind to reset.

Try thinking about your day like the pages of a book. If the words were to fill every inch of each page, it would be harder to read, harder to stay focused, and super overwhelming.

But when there’s white space on the page, everything is much clearer, more focused, and so much easier to read.

Your daily routines can be looked at in much the same way.

If every minute of the day is packed with work, workouts, meal prep, errands, and endless tasks (including for other people), you’re basically just dashing from one thing to the next with no time to breathe.

And when there’s no margin, burnout isn’t a matter of if—it’s a matter of when.

So what’s the fix? It may sound impossible at first, but you need to add more margin to avoid the burnout.

Create breathing room. Give yourself a buffer between tasks instead of rushing from one thing to the next to the next. It may seem impossible, but if you start small and chip away at the edges, saying no to things when necessary...you'll start to create that cushion.

Stop “optimizing” every second of the day. More isn’t always better. Downtime, rest, even unplugging for is period is just as important as any action you take.

Leave some space for real recovery. I've had to say this a lot lately (including to myself): scrolling your phone isn’t rest! Movement, fresh air, deep breathing, bubble baths, massages—that’s rest.

Drop what's non-essential. If your routine routinely stresses you out or you find that it regularly spreads you too thin, something has to go. It's that simple, even if "trimming the fat" doesn't sound possible at first. Spend some energy figuring out what can go!

I have a challenge for you this week: Figure out where you need more margin.

Email or tag me on Facebook or Instagram and tell me—what’s one thing you’re ready to let go of now, to create more space going forward? I’d love to hear!

P.S. Want more of the behind-the-scenes, real-life, not-always-perfect kind of health habit help? Come hang out with me on Get in the Habit(ish) over on Substack—where we talk fitness, food, stress, sleep, and all the small wins in between. It’s free to join, easy to read, and way more fun than pretending we’ve got it all together.