Most of my readers know me as a Personal Retreat Day coach but I’m also a freelance location scout for the film & video industry. Recently I scouted locations for a movie, half of which was being filmed in California, and half in the Charlotte region. I absolutely loved this project! I worked closely with the director and the production designer to find locations that matched their vision and brought the script to life. To me, location scouting mirrors hunting for hidden treasure – it takes a lot of effort and knocking on doors to find the right “gem” but the reward of finding the right fit is thrilling.

As the date to start filming drew near, I was asked to join the production team as the Key Assistant Location Manager. I really weighed this opportunity carefully. Being on set with a team of over 100 crew members is a much different animal than forging out on your own to scout. Usually, I work on commercials and short films and had never worked on a union movie shoot this big. You can bet I was intimidated to say the least! However, a few things tipped it to the “yes” column for me. Because the first half of the movie was being filmed in L.A., this was only a 4 week commitment — there were just 20 shoot days on the calendar. I had already been working closely with the core production team for months and felt comfortable with them. The newly-hired Locations Manager called me to discuss the project and we hit it off splendidly. So I ultimately decided to get out of my comfort zone, take a risk, and jump in the deep end of the pool. Little did I know I’d be treading water in an ocean!

When Busyness becomes Burnout

I knew that the project would be challenging, but I vastly underestimated the hours, intensity, and scope of the work. Within a few days it started taking a toll on my physical and emotional health. I lost my appetite, I slept poorly despite being extremely fatigued, I cried at the drop of a hat. One night, I even had a full-blown, middle-of-the-night panic attack! I was quickly approaching BURNOUT.

Greg McKeown in his new book, Effortless, argues “burnout is not a badge of honor.” However, in the United States we tend to celebrate burning the midnight oil. We brag about working long hours. When someone asks us how it’s going, the correct American response is a breathless “I’m super busy!” Then we hurry off to tackle our next vitally important task.

Being Busy vs. Being Hurried

We all have seasons of life that are unusually busy, seasons where we get stressed out, overwhelmed, or burdened. The question is, can we still thrive through these seasons? I recently read a passage from Soul Keeping by John Ortberg that beautifully described the difference between being hurried and being busy. Quoting it here:

“Being busy is an outward condition, a condition of the body. It occurs when we have many things to do. There are limits to how much busyness we can tolerate, so we wisely find ways to slow down whenever we can. By itself, busyness is not lethal. Being hurried is an inner condition, a condition of the soul. It means to be so preoccupied with myself and my life that I am unable to be fully present with God, with myself, and with other people. I’m unable to occupy this present moment.”

John Ortberg

My big problem while working on the movie was being both busy (outwardly) and hurried (inwardly) at the same time. It’s not sustainable to be simultaneously overworked in the body and stressed out in the mind & spirit. This leads to BURNOUT.

A Helpful Matrix

A few weeks after the project wrapped I was able to start mentally processing my experience of burnout. I thought about Ortberg’s quote and sketched out a 2×2 matrix. Here’s what I came up with:

ANXIOUS       Hurried & Not Busy	BURNOUT!!       Hurried & Busy
RELAXED       Not Hurried & Not Busy	PRODUCTIVE       Not Hurried & Busy

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You can be:

• Not Hurried and Not Busy – that’s a state of relaxation and rest. It’s a great place to be for a while, but stay there too long and you risk languishing into depression. A life built on purpose needs some action!
• Hurried and Not Busy – this is when the mind is preoccupied with thoughts rushing at 100 miles an hour but no action is being taken. Sounds like a recipe for anxiety to me.
• Not Hurried and Busy – oh, the sweet spot of stressless productivity! Often described as “flow”, this is when you’re in the zone, getting important things accomplished with ease.
• Hurried and Busy – BURNOUT ALERT!! Just like the opposite corner, there are times when you’ll be here. That’s life. Just don’t plan to stay too long.

Click HERE for part two of this story, where I discuss what I learned from Burnout and how I got out of it.

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One More Thing Before You Go:

If you’ve experienced burnout, I’d love to hear your story for a book idea I’m working on. Email me at wende@personalretreatday.com