5 Minimalist Habits to Avoid Burnout

5 Minimalist Habits to Avoid Burnout

Last week, a podcast host asked me a unique question. We’d wrapped up recording, but before exiting the call, she said:

“You just launched a book, but you don’t look exhausted. I imagined you would be just exhausted by now. And you just had a baby. How are you not burned out?”

She was right—I had just launched a book and had our fifth baby. But, thankfully, feeling that I had nothing left to give wasn’t where I’d landed.

Before answering, I decided I’d take her observations as a compliment. 

See, before adopting a minimalist lifestyle and letting go of 75 percent of our stuff six years ago, I tended to play the role of superwoman. 

I believed I had to do it all—and I tried. 

And while I did a lot, it often left me exhausted, distracted, irritable and burned out. I had little time and energy left for the people and things that truly mattered.

A recent study showed that 79% of Americans have experienced feelings of burnout. So many of us in this culture are accustomed to running on fumes.

Minimalism was my way out of the hustle culture.

As I questioned my possessions, I began to do the same with my commitments, my schedule, and my beliefs on productivity. I realized I wasn’t called to do everything. 

Getting more done no longer became a merit badge I was relentlessly trying to earn. 

And last week, the podcast host noticed. 

My answer to her question that day was pithy. 

When asked how I avoided burnout, I just smiled and said, “I paced myself.” But if we’d had more time—perhaps if we’d done an interview on how to avoid burnout—this is what I would have shared:

Here are 5 minimalist habits to avoid burnout:

1. Declutter your home environment 

A minimalist knows that clutter leads to exhaustion. Science supports this. A recent study out of Yale showed that our brains expend energy trying to ignore the visual stimuli in a cluttered environment (Xu et al., 2004). So even if we’re not consciously thinking about our clutter, we’re still working to ignore it. This leads to fatigue, distraction, and overwhelm—all which set the stage for burnout.

Decluttering your home environment changes the way your brain works in your home. It will increase your energy, focus, and sense of peace. 

The feeling of putting your home in order is extremely satisfying to your brain. Prioritizing tasks like making your bed, keeping your kitchen clean, and wiping down your bathroom will lead to higher dopamine levels. With less stuff, this becomes easier to do.

Letting go of the excess stuff that you no longer use or love is vital in avoiding burnout. (Learn how here).

2. Simplify as much as possible 

When I entered the season of “baby and book,” I asked myself, “How can I make things as simple as possible?” For me, this looked like using a grocery delivery service, asking family and friends to help drive our kids to activities, and automating routine purchases (like diapers and vitamins). 

This allowed me to focus on my relationships and my work like I needed to during that time.

A minimalist knows how to identify the essential things in life and eliminate the rest. When you have clarity on what matters most during a season, you stop directing your limited time, energy, and attention on less important endeavors. 

By simplifying our life, we can avoid burnout.

3. Revamp your to-do list

“When you are struggling with the pull to do more or think, I have to do . . . , pause. Ask yourself this very simple question: Do I?” said author Courtney Carver. 

When we overload our to-do lists, we risk spending our day in fight-or-flight mode, rushing to get things done. A minimalist knows “less is more” when it comes to checking off tasks. A schedule with more margin and downtime leads to a life with more creativity and meaning.

Choose just three things from your to-do list for today. Now add on two more that fill you up (reading to your kids, a nap, a novel outing or adventure). You don’t always have to be doing; in fact it’s better if you’re not. 

Questioning and revamping your to-do list will help avoid burnout. 

4. Embrace silence

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone,” said Blaise Pascal.

In our modern hustle, we’ve become a culture addicted to noise. Minimalists know that constant noise can result in overstimulation, overwhelm, and put us out of touch with our values.

A lot of this noise comes from digital consumption, but perpetually plugging in is far from life-giving. We are influenced by what we consume. Constantly consuming information can shift our focus to what others say is important (instead of what we truly believe matters). This throws life out of alignment, which leads to burnout. 

As a Christian, I’ve found silence facilitates connection with God. As I write in my new book Declutter Your Heart and Your Home, it’s hard to feel the Holy Spirit’s movements in your inner home without it. 

How can you turn down the noise in your life today? Turn your phone off for an hour, take a walk and observe nature instead of plugging into a podcast, or intentionally start and end your day with silence. 

Time in silence is often when our biggest ideas and solutions are born. It’s when we reconnect with our truest selves and with the one who made us. 

Tapping into silence will help you avoid burnout.

5. Prioritize rest

Psychologist Nicola Jane Hobs said, “Instead of asking, ‘Have I worked hard enough to deserve rest?’ ask, ‘Have I rested enough to do my most loving, meaningful work?’”

Minimalists know that our culture defines rest as something to be earned. But rest is essential—it’s often one of the most productive (and charitable) things we can do. It’s a precursor to showing up as your best self and living a meaningful life. 

Shift your mindset around rest, then add more into your life. Consider scheduling several ten-minute breaks in your day to pause. During this break you could: practice deep breathing, write down three things you’re grateful for, take a power nap, walk in the sunshine, sip tea, read a few pages of a good book, pray, mindfully observe your surroundings, or use a grounding essential oil. Make a day of rest or “do nothing day” part of your weekly rhythm.

When we’re rested, we’re less likely to experience burnout.

Conclusion

“We’ve become human doers rather than human beings,” said doctor Carissa Stanton. “We’ve become preoccupied with our to-do list, causing us to be disconnected from what is important.”

You can step out of the modern hustle and push for incessant productivity. Doing your best doesn’t have to lead to burnout. 

Wherever you are on your minimalist journey, now is the time to embrace practices that help avoid burnout. If one of the habits above resonated, start reclaiming your time, energy and attention by implementing it today.

We weren’t made for overwhelm, survival mode, or burnout. 

Here’s to living our one, abundant life with time to rest, dream, be, heal, and create. Simply and on purpose.

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Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist. Her online projects on minimalism, simplicity, and intentional living have reached over 50 million people worldwide. Julia also practices what she preaches in her Kansas City home where she lives with her husband and their five children. You can also find her on Instagram and Facebook.

P.S. You can now find my new book Declutter Your Heart and Your Home: How a Minimalist Life Yields Maximum Joy everywhere books are sold!