My 8-Step Plan to Live Burnout-Free And Reclaim Purpose

01 Sep 2026 #wellness #selfgrowth

Two years! That’s how long it took me to wake up with purpose again.

A combination of factors broke me: I was at a comfortable job, I stopped exercising, I stopped blogging. I thought only my career and job title defined me, and those frustrations spread to all other areas of my life.

It was a slow process to get back up. It started with small daily actions: a digital detox, a 10-minute workout, and writing. I cover most of those habits in my book 10 Surprisingly Simple Ideas That Changed My Life.

It was the lowest, darkest moment of my life so far. Just thinking about going back to where I was makes me anxious.

Here’s what I’m doing to never burnout again:

#1. Keep a boring part-time job. Something that helps me cover my living expenses without draining all my energy. I keep my expenses under control, so a part-time job as a Software Engineer is enough. My job isn’t the most important part of my life anymore.

#2. Strength training three times a week. I follow Michael Israetel’s idea of antagonistic supersets: training unrelated pairs of muscles per set. I don’t need to spend hours at a gym doing countless exercises. A pair of dumbbells and a full-body routine at home is enough to pack some muscle and stay healthy.

#3. Walk every day. Working from home is great, until you spend the whole day glued to a chair. Walking inspires me. It changes my mood and forces me to unplug.

#4. Publish something every day. Writing saved me from burnout. In 2024, sharing 200 words or a simple thought gave me a reason to get out of bed. Burnout came from disconnection, writing reconnected me.

#5. Have a moment of silence. A.k.a. meditation, mindfulness, or deep breathing. It helps me slow down, quiets the inner voice, and trains me to stay calm…and helps me stay away from my phone and be bored again.

#6. Read at least one page a day. My first step to recovery was to cut down all content, except for inspiring books from writers who had reinvented themselves. That’s what I wanted to do. I don’t want to wait to fall down again to go back to reading. Books are the best way to nourish the mind.

#7. Run experiments. A good paying job and its comfort zone made me sick, physically and mentally. Since then, I’m challenging myself with experiments: quick, low-cost actions that might fail, but always teach. My last experiment turned a top post into a book. These days, I’m running 30 days of Substack Notes and visiting new cafes every week in my city.

#8. Eat consciously. Burnout also brought stomach issues. I hated my job so much that I rushed to finish my tasks, skipping lunch and eating too fast. Bad idea! Everything I ate sent me to the bathroom for days. What you eat either heals you or makes you sick. So I’m eating more protein, more vegetables, less carbs, no sugar, no processed food… In the right amounts and in the right order. Being in bed or stuck to a toilet doesn’t let you accomplish anything. What we feed our minds and bodies shapes the life we live.