[AuroraArray]

Do you get it? In what scenarios?
How do you combat it?


I wish I had a proper way to stave it off, it's as if my motivation comes in bursts. D:
Please, ENFP's of the world, UNITE





.....What if I told you there were starving unicorns involved?

[zadude]

Yes - all the freaking time in my work life. I will go extremely hard and completely overextend myself for 2 months and then take a 1 month vacation where I'm just coasting... and then back into an extreme form of motivation followed by lack of motivation and more focus on maintenance followed by extreme motivation again. I am happy that my career allows me to work in these burst.

I actually think it keeps me healthy to work in burst. I work hard and then I play hard. Don't you?

In some situations, such as my fitness, I have recognized that there is no room for such a thing as a burn out, you can't put your health on the back burner. And honestly... where there is a will, there is a way. ENFPs are not known for being able to actually enjoy routine in their lives, however the one routine I've made apart of my life for the past 5 years or so is going to the gym and being completely organized and detailed in the science of it all. I am the most spontaneous person ever and have crazy burst of motivation, but I never let my drive in fitness falter.

There are some things in life where you simply can not work in burst, including many common careers. I am not sure what the solution is in those cases, tbh. There needs to be an intrinsic motivation and self-discipline. Being an ENFP - working towards self-discipline makes sense. Sometimes life requires you to do some things you don't like.

EDIT: Maybe be more careful in how much you extend yourself. Over-extending yourself may lead to quicker burn out.

[Dania]

Yup... Its like a cycle for me that I realized when I was in grade 13. It always happens in spring... around February's end

I cant separate school life, and relationships too much... not even my financial life really. They all interlink and affect each other for me.

It usually starts out with social burnout/anxiety. It all start out with me needing some SPACE (oh golly... I feel stressed thinking about that feeling). In the summer I usually get away from people, find myself again and I am ready for school in Autumn. I don'd get such a break in Xmas... my Xmas usually involves a lot of people anyway. I think I am not centred enough by Spring semester and midway through I lose it!

Social burnout = School burnout for me. I get behind and by March I suffer from anxiety - if its really bad I experience panic attacks - as I try to stay on top of an ever-growing pile of papers/assignments/reading, the whole works.

Sometime after that I go through a depression. I have basically given up and I allow the pile to drown me... I really don't care at this point. I find that I try to stay away from people here... I sort of watch myself fall apart too... objectively I watch myself and analyse what is going on with me... sort of weird I guess.

Finances usually get messed up cause I like to blow my money when I am depressed... I look for new things that I cant wait to have. I am happier looking for them, happy when I find them and assume I will be happy when I buy it... usually pack it away after couple uses... sigh, and I am broke to begin with. Usually end up starving because I am buying makeup etc instead of groceries.


Fighting It:
I have one more spring semester left. I think balancing me-time and people-time throughout the whole year will help me out with next spring *fingers crossed. after I am through with school I hope... I hope this problem will just disappear. I would hate to think that I will escape school and still be going through this dumb cycle. I plan to live alone (inner sigh of relief, the word ALONE is so peaceful huh? lol) when I start working... and I will try my best not to get ABSORBED and SUCKED IN by the people who I work with. I cant be absorbed by people who I am seeing 24/7/365 apparently.

[tine]

I find just making sure you notice when you're doing too much and to stop yourself before you burn out XD I nearly killed myself overworking in college to pass Biology. I was very pale, ate rice cakes and basically nothing else and couldn't get off the sofa except to revise!

[marzipan01]

Do you get it? In what scenarios?
How do you combat it?


I wish I had a proper way to stave it off, it's as if my motivation comes in bursts. D:
Please, ENFP's of the world, UNITE



.....What if I told you there were starving unicorns involved?

Arlene R Taylor PhD--Prolonged Adaption Stress Syndrome (PASS)--Realizations Inc.

This pretty much describes my burn-out. I was forcing myself to be a competitive thinking type for far too long.

[marzipan01]

I actually have a new theory on this.
How to keep and maintain motivation as an ENFP: practice turning your brain inside out and back again (pretend to be an istp for a moment)
Okay, see how natural it is to be an ENFP?
Okay, now do that.
Path of least resistance is the key. Find something that comes naturally to you figure out how to do that for money. Then, let that be your job and when you're done with work, you will have all the money and energy you need for your passions, dreams, and hobbies.

*I call this embracing your shadow functions. Incorporate your inner ISTJ into your daily life by being yourself and doing what comes naturally to you and using it to your advantage. You can be to work on time if work doesn't stress you out. You can get all your homework done several days ahead if what you're studying comes naturally to you.
Example: for me, homework in literature classes never felt like homework. I was reading literature. Writing papers about it--easy and fun!

[briesas]

to a huge extent, at work. I've ended up leaving jobs in the past because i can't stop working 60-80 hour weeks, and not because i had to do it. Don't have a good answer yet, except that the place I'm at now there are a lot of really experienced, excellent people who are near retirement and have been-there/done-that but managed to find a balance. They've stuck with the job on average 30 years, and set a good example for balancing work and play. I think it helps that they end up setting an overall culture for the institution that encourages this...