How to prevent holiday burnout. Holiday intentions to prevent burnout. The Burnout Doctor Podcast. Keynote speaker on burnout, well-being, konmari, clutter, simplifying.

How to be intentional and prevent holiday burnout this season.

All my Holiday Gift Guides!


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Mentioned on Ep 138: How to be intentional and prevent holiday burnout this season.


Welcome back to The Burnout Doctor Podcast, I’m your host Dr. Jessica Louie. Today, we are talking about how to let go of the 24/7 I’m always putting work first culture. Thank you for sharing your action steps from our last episode on how comparison is the thief of joy. Many of you are taking action by using our complimentary Burnout Starter Kit and What If Protocol – don’t forget to download yours today! We all write our own stories in our lives and homes. Let’s all bring joy into home and joy into work.

Why do we need to be intentional during the holiday season? Because as many of you, we are incentivized to volunteer for overtime or extra pay for holiday work and although enticing, this extra pay may not align with your values

I personally fell into this trap as an intern pharmacist and pharmacist. I volunteered for most holidays. It was time and half pay.

I also have family members and friends who are asked to do more and more – 24 hour call following immediately by a day in the clinic leading up to the holiday season. Who wants to be working for 32+ hours straight?

How do we change this?

First, we set intention into our holiday season. We get clear out how we OWN our time during the holiday season. We continue to stick to our work-life alignment boundaries.

Second, we use the Clarify Simplify Align planner journal to see where our values lie. You can get your own planner here.

Third, we align align our values with our hearts.

For my partner and I that meant sitting down, knowing he moonlights a LOT for his medical field and saying we are committing time for holidays with each other and with family. The result? He is moonlighting all other days of the month besides the holidays.

In addition, in order to ensure we continue on our debt-free journey (from $300K+ student loan debt), we set intention into how we gift give without adding clutter to other people’s lives. We prefer to gift give experiences instead of stuff. We also don’t have a large budget for gifts. Holidays are for spending TIME with loved ones and friends. Creating a culture where holidays are all about the gifts does not align with my values – consumeristic behavior creates waste, hurts the environment and creates greed over a giving behavior.

Questions to ask yourself to set intention into the holiday season:

What commitments are you planning to attend this holiday season?

What holiday decorations do you store (take up room) and you use each season?

How will you approach holiday gift giving this season?

In my Joy at Work Course, you can get even more advice and action steps on how to make decisions with confidence and how to say no with confidence.

All my Holiday Gift Guides!

Make sure you’re following along on our YouTube channel (youtube.com/drjessicalouie) as well with new videos going live every Saturday!

Until next time, spark joy my friends!

Note, my views are my own and are not associated or representative of my employer(s).
This podcast is for educational purposes only and not medical advice.