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Recognizing Burnout

How a slow-paced Friday night made me realize I was moments away from full-blown burnout.

Liya Khaimova
Lean In
Published in
5 min readJan 20, 2024

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Photo by Verne Ho on Unsplash

I was on the verge of burnout for months — if not years — and I had no idea.

This realization came to me as I was listening to my audiobook while getting my steps in on my walking pad.

(For those curious, I’m currently listening to Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano — I’m only 14% of the way in, but so far I’m intrigued.)

It was a Friday night. I logged off work and immediately went into prepping dinner. I ate by 6:30, did my 30-minute at-home workout, followed by a 45-minute walk on my space-saving foldable walking pad.

On this walk — while habit-stacking listening to my audiobook — my husband called me. We chatted about our days (since he was on tour and I was at home) and it hit me like a ton of bricks: I’m doing exactly what I want with my evenings and don’t feel like I’m constantly chasing the next best thing.

I don’t know if it’s because 2023 was one of the most hectic years of my life (planning a wedding, having the wedding, all while learning a new role at work and preparing for a supporting role in a local opera), but 2024 has chilled out a lot so far already.

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Lean In
Lean In

Published in Lean In

A woman’s perspective is worth telling. Every story is worth telling.

Liya Khaimova
Liya Khaimova

Written by Liya Khaimova

I have a muggle day job, write, sing, and do voiceover by night, along with all the other projects happening in my life. Cat mom. She/her.

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