How To Deal With a Classic Beijing Burnout

The Beijing life can be spectacular, but a burnout on this hyper-fixated journey is inevitable. You work and work without a much-needed respite, and in comes the ugly face of a burnout when everything seems to crumble down around you. We've got some pointers to keep in mind if and when that happens. Here's how to recuperate! 

1. Out and About

One of the best ways to deal with a classic Beijing burnout is to change the place that burned you. A change of scene could mean a million things to many different people, but in essence, it refers to shifting gears and looking at another perspective. A park stroll, a walk in the garden nearby, or a run along a road near your compound might do the trick. If you want to hit those burnout blues hard, a trip outside the city would do some serious damage control. Pressed for time? Understandable! Take a one-day trip with a gazillion travel groups that love to post foreigners in their posts. Be that chirpy foreigner who went on a solo trip and made everyone jealous of their aesthetic exotic land pictures. 

2. Try a New Cuisine

You fine dine that burnout right now! Beijing is home to tons of different cuisines, and you'll find a different region of China on every corner and a new country on every street. Go cuisine hunting and try a falafel wrap with kimchi sauce. Sometimes authenticity is overrated and you have got to make the most of life's lemons. Try Mexican lime drinks at a completely non-authentic stereotypically decorated Mexican restaurant. What have you got to lose? 

3. Touch the Home Ground

One of the most classic cures to a classic burnout is home. Anything home-related. No matter how broken your cooking skills are, make that soup your mum used to make back home. Bring that candle from IKEA that smells like your grandma's backyard. Sometimes a slight reminder of home in one form or another is enough to get us out of the rut and break that pattern of torture we are constantly putting ourselves through. 

4. Change: The Only Constant

A burnout is just that ... a burnout. It doesn't dictate your life or the whole year ahead. Pat yourself on the back for doing so well the past few months and achieving all your targets. Yes, the burnout is a by-product of all your hard work – let's address it now! Accept that times will change, and you must, too. Get a haircut – that buzz cut you thought would never suit you, that hair color you know wasn't your cup of tea, or that one facial that promises vampire levels of eternal youth. Change up a few constants in your life and see the seal of burnout slowly wash off. 

5. Synergize

We are social animals, and there's no denying what the presence of friends can do to our burnout. Hunt that burnout with a much-needed friend get-together – your place, theirs, or a bar if it works for you on a busy weeknight! Synergize! Soak in the good energy, speak your heart out, and let loose about that horrible boss, that finicky landlady, or that demanding friend. Let your people recharge you and go out to face life with renewed energy! 

6. Burn the Burnout

Burn that burnout like nobody's business. Hit the gym and let it all sweat out of you. Sometimes the cure to a burnout is burning some calories out! Take a walk, go on a sprint, juggle oranges, dance in the hall, do some bed yoga... Whatever it is, move and you'll see the difference. Even during long work hours, take a break, walk around, stretch your legs, and do some exercises like that one person on a flight who can't sit straight for more than half an hour or they'll jam out all their muscles. 

7. Dopamine Day

Have. A. Dopamine. Day. Do every single thing you love in one go. A burnout deserves an overdose of dopamine in its own right. Take a day off, wake up late, waimai your favorite food and just spend the day in a dopamine drench for some serious damage control. That much-needed break gives you clarity like nothing else. Resurface, restructure, restart and go full throttle! It's a burnout, not a life sentence! Remind yourself that you did not come this far to just come this far! 

Here's to kicking some burnout ass and making the most of this amazing part of your life! You've got this! Cheers! 

READ: Tour, Travel or Taking a Break? The Different Kinds of Holidays

Images: Uni You, Canva