Live in Love

rb to bonk prev with an empty paper towel roll

“Do it scared” “do it alone” are all great tips, but my biggest takeaway from therapy is do it messy. This is especially true if you’re getting out of a burnout, which I experience often. Literally just do it messy. You don’t need to pick the perfect trail to walk, the perfect playlist to listen to, whatever the fuck it is. You don’t need to have a meticulous to do list and wake up at the exact time you planned and drink the exact amount of water you planned to drink. Like the biggest thing for people like me to remember is sometimes it’s okay to do it messy. Put on a random yt workout and just get it done in sweats. Do 5 minutes of a daunting task and go from there. Sometimes just getting up is a win during intense burnouts or depressive funks. Literally just do it messy.

I’m a stem grad student & my first semester was rough. When I was in undergrad I did not struggle at all, sailed through with perfect time management skills. But burnout is rough, especially burnout during grad school. I was contending with an intense course load and a lot of family things at the time. Things I found easy, like maintaining a meticulous schedule, compartmentalizing, working out, all became mountains to climb in a way I wasn’t used to. And my therapist’s advice was just to get back into it by doing it messy. Journal random thoughts when I feel like it, just do a random yt workout in sweats. It’s not pilates and it’s not me showing up with my pink bottle and matching set, but it’s still something done. And that’s okay. It’s not worth any less just because it’s not “pretty.” It’s still something. And if that’s what helps people accomplish things, it matters more than anything else. Do it messy. Do it messy is always better than don’t do it at all.