You may have noticed that I didn’t post last week; it was kind of a rough week.  As we got to the end of the week I came to the realization that I’m feeling a little burnt out. Since the beginning of 2009 business has been rocky. My current clients have had ups and downs and brining in new ones has been a challenge. I’ve been pretty much heads down the last 18 months without much of a break and I’m not seeing the kind of results that I’m used to. It’s frustrating.

On top of that I fell into a bad habit. As the business hit it’s bumps I put my head down and worked harder. I have good people on my team, but instead of reaching out and asking for help, I hunkered down, communicated less and pushed harder. So as the challenges mounted I took a lot of that pressure on myself and that’s taken its toll.

By Friday I just didn’t want to be here, I didn’t want to make a call or write anything. I shuffled papers on my desk for a while before i realized that it was time to make some changes.

First, I checked my goals and surprisingly, I’m not doing that badly.  I got the book out, I’ve done 7 speaking gigs, I’ve tried some new pricing strategies, and started my recipe blog. I had taken retreats early in the year (but missed my last few) so I scheduled a retreat for the weekend to try to get some clear headspace.  Seeing all that had been accomplished felt good, there was more progress than I was recognizing.

But there were other areas where things are still not where I want them to be, so I took my retreat day and started making some plans. How are things going to be different. Not general plans (work harder!) but specific tasks and to-dos.  I loaded them up in to Omni Focus (which I had also neglected during this period) and it’s given me some renewed focus.

Lastly, I took some time to reconnect with my dreams. Why am I doing all of this anyway? Beyond the business, and the clients, what’s this all about? Looking at that big picture is helping me to find the joy in moving forward.

So I’ll be taking some long weekends this summer, and I’ve scheduled more fun into my weeks, but I’m also going to be more productive with the focused tasks in my to-do list.  I’m feeling a little better. I’m excited to get started with some new clients this month and spend more time with my team brainstorming and sharing the situation.

What do you do to avoid, or recover from burnout?

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Brad Farris is a small business advisor with Anchor Advisors, Ltd. in Chicago, Il. Since 2001 Anchor Advisors has been helping creative professional firms to grow, by helping them clarify their purpose, get the most from their people, keep their eye on key performance measures, and implement consistent processes. Brad is also the author of The Business Owner’s Champion: 6 Practices to Build your Nerve and your Business.