Feel better in the next five minutes

⏱️ Today’s tip: No window of time is too small for a mental reset.

You’re not the only one who feels perpetually burnt out. As Anne Helen Petersen told Gen recently, “People have been burnt out for decades, maybe centuries.” Peterson describes the familiar experience of feeling so exhausted by producing all day that you don’t even have the energy to do the things you know would make you feel better, like reading a novel instead of zoning out with Candy Crush.

Part of this is due to an insidious little something called internalized capitalism, Anna Gragert argues — but despite what we’ve all been led to believe, “your self-worth is not connected to your productivity.” Pulling some energy out of your work and pouring it back into yourself, Gragert writes, “feels both freeing and revolutionary.”

One way to do it? Take five minutes during the workday for a mental reset. Yes, five minutes. Or two, if that’s what you have. Walk to the end of the block and back, read a poem, do a few jumping jacks, pray if that’s your thing. It doesn’t take long to remind yourself that you’re a human being, not a human doing.

✍️ We want to hear from you. Send us an email at forge@medium.com and tell us your favorite quick way to take care of yourself. We may feature some of our favorite answers on Forge’s Instagram.

📚 More from Forge on ways to recharge:

Burnout Is Now Our Default State
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We Are All the Burnout Generation
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The Natural Cure for Burnout is Awe
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