On slowing down

And overcoming burnout

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Welcome to Issue 06.

Hello my friend,

It's been a minute, hasn't it? What's new with you? I thrifted a new leather jacket that's got me feeling all dapper. Went home to visit my family for a bit (I’ll get into why). I finally have a kitchen table. Life is life.

Today's letter was originally supposed to be about the connection between research and design (still coming in a future one), but I wanted to shift gears and write about something realer. The real mccoy. The last few weeks, I've been tangoing with an old friend of mine, Burnout. Heard of her?

Burnout is a "state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress" (1). When folks talk about burnout, it's usually about their job or career. And I suppose that's part of mine. This year, I've spread myself a little too thin with my graduate studies, three jobs, and content creation. If you're audibly going "eeek" and pulling on your neck collar like a cartoon character, I know.

Though, I've been feeling burnt out beyond my laptop screen. Life in general has taken a wee bit of a toll lately. It's almost like the kitchen sink has been filling with water faster than it can drain, and now it's spilling over the edges onto the floor. You know what I mean?

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Slowing down.

Got a bit dreary for a second there. It's all good, really. Today's letter is not about despair, it's about slowing down. Because I feel like as creatives, we tend to feel the need to be on the "go" all. the. time. Don't blink! You might miss an opportunity! The world is moving fast and it's leaving you behind!

Do you ever want to take the little Yous that control your brain like in Inside Out, and flick them down the kitchen drain?

This is your reminder that the world is not going to pass you by. Life is *happening* all around us and it is okay to slow down and *happen* with it. Here are some ways I'm committing to slow down:

1. Finishing my morning coffee before I start any work (after I finish writing this letter).

2. Sitting down to have a meal.

3. Single-tasking, instead of multi-tasking.

4. Taking the long way home.

5. Doing the NYT mini crossword.

6. Baking some muffins.

7. Telling my mom I love her.

8. Skipping stones in the lake.

9. Meditating.

10. Dancing in the kitchen with my AirPods in.

Because the simple things about life are pretty nifty when you carve out time for them. I'm curating an Are.na board about this. Follow along here.

I'll leave you with my favourite quote by author, activist, teacher, and Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh:

“If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not “washing the dishes to wash the dishes.” What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future—and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”

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Music to your ears.

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Things I’ve been into:

Good Sodoku →

The most pleasant Sodoku app on the app store. Pretty, intuitive, and fun.

Poe by Quora →

An AI chatbot with a mobile app. Best designed one I've seen so far.

Bento →

A link-in-bio site, but beautiful and fun to use.

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Closing thoughts.

How are you feeling? Do you think differently about burnout or slowing down? Any tips or suggestions? Give me a comment on this post. Feels like we’re pen pals.

Thanks for reading, friend. I’ll talk to you soon. Keep in touch. Shoot me a message on Insta or something.

Cheers,
Matt