Avoid Exhaustion as an Introvert
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
My weekend is jam full packed with family and gatherings.
For this introvert, it will be overwhelming and exhausting so there’s a few things I will be doing daily to help.
First, do you know the whole introvert / extrovert isn’t a life sentence?
It simply means how you recharge.
What gives you energy vs draining your battery.
It’s not good or bad, just a tool for you to understand how to gain more energy and know what depletes it.
So obviously, while you may be an introvert, you can still make the holidays work for you, not end up dead beat beat exhausted or sidelined with illness shortly after.
Here are my try and true tips:
- Carve out me time. Alone time. May be counterintuitive when you are tired but waking up at the same time every day. Getting up 15 minutes earlier than anyone else. Sitting in silence. No one asking or talking to you. What you do in those 15 minutes is up to you but here’s what I do…
- Sip something warm that is not coffee. Hot ginger lemon water, is often my choice, with a little sea salt. Today it was caffeine-free chai latte.
- Journal. Get any reoccurring thoughts out of playing over and over in my head.
- Gently move my body. Stretch, leaning into tightness and breathing deep. Open up tissues to allow muscles to move more freely, blood move more easily. After all, this is how oxygen and nutrients get delivered to where they need to go to give us energy.
- Get outside. Feel the coldness on my face and neck. Breathe in the cool air. Pair this with number 4 and get outside for a brisk walk early in the morning.
- Eat a protein rich breakfast like 2 eggs, sausage and a hash (potatoes, peppers, zucchini). Provides stable blood sugar levels so you don’t crash needing coffee in 2 hours and avoid getting irritable and shaky. This is regardless of when you will be gathering. Eating within the first hour of waking up helps reduce stress for the rest of the day and will help you avoid making poor food choices you wouldn’t if not famished and not over eat.
What are your ways of energizing yourself during the holidays and avoiding burnout?