How do you handle Burn out?

[Fuglydude]

I work in an ICU as a critical care RN. This means I deal w/ critically ill people, that in many cases rely on machines/drug infusions to keep them alive. Take away the machines and the patient is dead in a matter of minutes. This in itself its kind of a high stress environment compared to most people w/ "regular" 9-5 office jobs. Furthermore, I work 12, sometimes 16 hr shifts and can miss meal breaks if there is a lot of shiite going on. I often eat crappy sugary food when stuff's really stressful. I guess its a compensation mechanism.

I love my work. Its' rewarding, extremely educational, and is providing me w/ great clinical experiences for the next step in my career path. Its also quite financially rewarding, at least for this point in my life.

I also work part time as an exotic entertainer doing stagettes. The pay is exceptional, and its a lot of fun to party w/ a bunch of women! I like to think I'm quite adept at stagettes, and I work hard to look the part and put on a good show. This means reducing caloric intake, cutting water/dehydrating prior to shows.

With these 2 jobs, I find I'm often sleep deprived, it feels as though my nervous is always in overdrive. This leads to sleep issues, where I have trouble staying asleep for more than 4 hours at a time.

Overall, not really a combo that is conducive to good health/heavy lifting. I have anabolic support, but I feel this is just a crutch I use to maintain my leanness despite all the stresses on my body.

Unfortunately working less isn't really an option as I really need the money. I'm sure many of you guys out there also have stressful, busy lives... what strategies do you have for combatting burn out and still maintaining a healthy lifestyle?

 

[The Karate Kid]

Dude, there is honestly only one solution- More sleep.

somehow you need to find a way to get extra rest, or it wont be too long before you really start falling apart.

but i hear you on the burning out bit, I work a busy 9-5 while also training 2-3 hours a night as a mixed martial artist, so i understand.

 

[kbear0101]

Fugly, have you tried meditating? It can do wonders for you so you don’t go about your day feeling like a zombie…feeling more relaxed and focused…you will be able to sleep like a king. It takes discipline and practice just like strengthening your body like you have. PM me if you would like me to suggest a few different techniques.

 

[MetalFortress]

Considering that both jobs are pretty high income, especially for a young single guy, I would recommend you downsize your lifestyle and see what expenses you can cut out, so that you no longer 'need' the money. Where does it go to? House? Cars? Bills?

 

[Fuglydude]

Thanks for the responses gentlemen...

Karate kid, I totally agree w/ your take on needing more sleep. Unfortunately, I have issues staying and sometimes falling asleep. My body spontaneously wakes up after around ~4 hours (I think this is one sleep cycle), and I'm pretty much ready to go. The only time I can sleep longer w/o any pharmaceutical help is when I have a large sleep debt. It seems my body is perfectly fine w/ only 4 hours of sleep... I can function fine, but I obviously don't feel 100%! I've always have sleep issues, so I'm not sure what the solution is to this...

Kbear, never really thought about meditation, although I definitely find it intriguing. My dad has tried to get me to meditate many times through out my life, but I've never really been able to do it w/ the techniques he says. Maybe you have some better techniques. I'll drop you a PM when I get a chance...

Metal, I don't think i'm young (I'm 28), and I'm not single. I wanna move to the US, possible san fran, in the next couple of years. I'll probably get married before that, so that's pretty expensive. I also wanna get the secondary suite in my basement completed, which will probably cost around 5-10k in materials alone. I also trying to get outta dancing, so this is gonna bite into my income a bit... I guess I just have a lot of capital-intensive "projects" on my plate over the next couple of years that require that I continue to make a good income.

Thanx again for the responses.