How ENFPs Can Keep From Burning Out Before Spring
ENFP personality types love a fresh start. They’re excited, enthusiastic, and always looking ahead to see what the future might bring. Whether it’s a brand new year, a new month, or even a new day, they like to follow paths they’ve never taken, engage in creative projects, and say yes to every opportunity that comes their way.
It’s this passion and joy that makes the ENFP personality so wonderful to have as colleagues, friends and partners. But their interest in everything can sometimes lead to an oversized workload. Too many projects and responsibilities can ultimately cause ENFP burnout and prevent them from completing their goals or doing the things they love.
Here are a few ways that ENFP personality types can do all the things they want to do this year… without burning out before spring.
Prioritize the Essentials
While an ENFP likes to take on Every. Single. Project. that comes their way, there are other things that have to get done, like routine work tasks and chores. So make sure you're taking time to prioritize the essentials before following new opportunities. This will help to clear your head and allow you to focus more effectively on your professional and creative pursuits.
When big projects are hanging over you, it can be difficult to concentrate or come up with something new. You also don’t want to be exhausted when the time comes to take care of the things that really matter, so tackle them first and then leave yourself time to go after what excites you most.
Schedule Time for Self-Care
For an ENFP, taking time to read, watch a movie, or even do yoga can feel like a wasted opportunity to get something done. You can’t work all the time—though you like to try!—so make downtime and relaxation part of your schedule. Set reading goals for yourself so you feel more inclined to follow through, or schedule the end of your day, when you can sit back with loved ones and enjoy a new show.
If you don’t have hard and fast stopping points, you tend to work and create without an end in sight, and eventually that can lead to burnout. Treat your new creative and professional endeavors the same way you would a traditional job and set them aside at the end of the day.
Learn to Appreciate Down Time
It’s also important to actually enjoy the time you spend away from work. ENFP personality types are very busy, always thinking about the next big project or how they might achieve their goals. Down time isn’t nearly as effective if you’re constantly worrying about the time you’re missing or what you’re going to do when you get back to the office or the studio. Rather, you’ll want to find ways to actually relax when you’re relaxing. This is why it can be helpful to set up your office in a different room of the house from where you watch television, or why you’ll want to try to relax with friends and loved ones who will put you at ease.
It can be challenging for ENFP personalities to calm their ever-moving mind, but the more you are able to relax, the more you will be able to achieve your goals and continue working, rather than running yourself down.
Set Realistic Goals
Setting realistic goals can be particularly challenging for ENFP personality types who, among their great strengths, are dreamers and visionaries. Don’t give up on the big ideas! Instead, consider breaking the larger plan up into smaller, more achievable sections. When you don’t realize your big goals right away, you can become discouraged from moving forward—or you can start pushing yourself too hard to achieve them too quickly.
Instead, think about a more reasonable schedule and more realistic goals. Give yourself an achievable timeline that doesn’t require too many late nights or early mornings, and focus on how you can sustainably achieve your dreams over the long-term, rather than trying to finish them all very quickly. This will help you to both see your project through to the end and to keep from becoming exhausted as you do.
Listen to Your Body
Our bodies can tell us a lot—even when we don’t necessarily want to listen. Because ENFP personality types do the things they’re passionate about, engage in exciting causes, and always follow adventures, they may not even realize they’re struggling to accomplish everything until burnout hits. It’s important to pay attention to your body, as well as your mind. Are you struggling to sleep, experiencing chest pains or headaches? Is your stomach bothering you? Little physical signs can sometimes indicate larger mental or emotional strain that you can address before it becomes a problem.
Adjust as You Go
There’s no one size fits all solution to managing your needs and balancing your many projects and goals. Instead, you’ll want to check in with yourself and see how you’re doing regularly. If your plans feel overwhelming or difficult to achieve, if you’re struggling to accomplish your daily tasks, or even if you just feel tired and frustrated, take stock of your responsibilities and interests and then adjust accordingly. This will help you to stay on top of the things you need to finish and to continue to feel passionate and excited about your projects, rather than burdened by them.
Treat Yourself as You Would Loved Ones
ENFP personality types are extremely empathetic. Their ability to care for others and provide them with a safe place to discuss their needs and feelings is one of the reasons why ENFP personality types make for such great friends and partners. That empathy and patience doesn’t always extend to themselves, however.
If you’re an ENFP who is struggling to take time to relax or can’t find balance between work and play, treat yourself as you would someone you care about. Would you tell them to feel guilty or ashamed for not completing everything or saying yes to every project? Of course not. When you take yourself out of the conversation, you’ll find that patience, empathy, and understanding are all right there. All you need to do is focus it inward.
Take the Pressure Off
At the end of the day, a new project is just a note on a calendar. Putting too much pressure on accomplishing all of your goals and plans all at once can actually cause you to become overwhelmed and make it even more difficult to achieve what you set out to achieve. Every first of the month, Monday morning, or top of the hour is a chance to embark upon a great adventure, so try to relieve some of the pressure at the start of the year and instead think about why you’re striving to meet your goals and how you can do so sustainably and in the long-term.
Take care of yourself, and work to avoid burning out. Listen to your needs, schedule time to relax, and treat yourself with empathy, kindness, and patience. With long-term, realistic goals and opportunities for rest and self-preservation, you’ll be amazed at the work, art, and adventures that can be achieved.
