Disrupting Burnout
Disrupting Burnout with Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson is dedicated to overworked, undervalued high-achieving servant leaders who give all to serve others and leave very little for yourself. You are an accomplished woman with many responsibilities and you often find yourself overwhelmed, exhausted, and burned out. I’ve been there. As a matter of fact, burnout almost cost me everything. Compassionate work can carry a high price tag: your mind, body, spirit and relationships may be in distress as you serve the needs of others. I am here to equip your hands and refresh your heart so you can serve in purpose and fulfillment and permanently break cycles of burnout.
Disrupting Burnout
139. Scrolling Is Not Rest: How to Take Effective Breaks
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Welcome to another episode of the Disrupting Burnout podcast where we give you the strategies for pouring out purpose without burnout. I am Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson, but you can call me PBJ.
We think we're taking breaks throughout our day, but most of what we consider "breaks" are simply different forms of information consumption. Scrolling social media between tasks? That's not rest—it's just a different cognitive load. Even meaningful conversations with colleagues don't give our brains the downtime needed to process, release toxins, and reset. True restoration requires intentionally creating spaces where your mind can recover.
Silence has become a luxury we rarely experience. As I walk my dog Bella, I have to consciously remind myself not to reach for headphones, not to fill the space with podcasts or music—to simply be present in the moment. This constant stream of information is exactly why many of us live in perpetual overwhelm.
Your brain is miraculous in its ability to heal itself, much like how your body repairs a cut or recovers from surgery. But this natural restoration only happens when we allow it time. Throughout this episode, I share practical strategies for incorporating effective micro breaks into your daily rhythm—from the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique to conscious breathing exercises, from rediscovering the power of stretching to embracing simple, kindergarten-like activities that require presence without complex processing.
After decades of overworking and overachieving, learning to take effective breaks requires practice. But I challenge you to try: step away from problems that feel like brick walls, give your brain true rest, and watch how it rewards you with improved focus, creativity, and solutions that previously eluded you. Download my STOP plan through the link in the show notes and start incorporating these restorative micro breaks today. Your overwhelmed mind deserves this gift of recovery.
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In order to have a moment of silence, you have to intentionally make it happen. Silence is like a rare gift. We fill our days and our atmosphere with sound. Even as I'm walking, bella, I have to intentionally tell myself don't put your headphones in, don't turn on another song or another podcast or another book. Just walk, just be outside and walk the dog, so that your brain can rest and recover. One of the reasons why we are constantly overwhelmed is because we are constantly processing information, and not all of that information is bad in and of itself. Not all of that information is overwhelming in and of itself, but it's just too much of it.
Speaker 1:Hey, friends, I am Dr Patrice Buckner-Jackson, but you can call me PBJ, and welcome to another episode of the Disrupting Burnout Podcast, where we are giving you the strategies for pouring out purpose without continuing to suffer in the consequences of burnout. Friend, if you've been listening, you know that we are focused on resetting our rhythm and, more specifically, this month, we're learning how to take restorative breaks. I know, friend, you don't know how to take a break. You don't. You don't know how to take a break. And you know what? If I'm honest, okay, can I be honest? I'm not that great at it either All the time. It's something that I have to work on. All right, I'm going to start by telling on myself, because I mean, why not? We're here now, right? So I'll give you a couple of examples. One is right now, as I am recording these podcast episodes for you. Between the episodes, you know I'm going to take a break, and those breaks have included scrolling through social media. I know I know better. I'm here to teach you about how to take a break. Failing to take a break, even as I caught myself doing it, I had to laugh and say now I'm gonna have to tell them, now I'm gonna have to tell on myself, because here I am, we've got to talk about and practice what a real micro break looks like, a break where you are experiencing restoration and recovery. A real micro break. I'll give you another example. So last week I had the honor of speaking at the Women Conference in Mississippi, at the University of Mississippi. So shout out to the Women Network W-H-E-M-N. These are women in higher education from all over the state of Mississippi. And y'all, when I tell you the hospitality baby, listen. They took care of your girl. All right, but at the conference I gave a keynote and then I led a panel discussion right afterwards.
Speaker 1:And between those two activities the host, dr Mead, shout out to Dr Mead and all of my other friends from the planning committee, said hey, pbj, take a break. You can go into that room over there. Have a seat. Get a few minutes before you come back out into that room. Over there, have a seat, get a few minutes before you come back out.
Speaker 1:My assistant was with me and of course she said PBJ, there's a couch in the back of the room, because this room was glassed so you could see in. She said there's a couch in the back of the room. You should probably go sit in the back. Well, are y'all praying for Sharon? Cause she needs it, cause I'm the back? Well, are y'all praying for Sharon because she needs it, because I'm? I'm a mess to take care of? Okay, because I did not listen, I said oh, I'm good, I'll sit right here and I'm thinking well, I want to be close to the door, so when it's time to get back on stage, I'm not late. Blah, blah, blah. I should have listened because sitting there was like a magnet and I loved it. People came, we hugged, we took pictures. You know, there were tears all the and I'm so grateful for it. And I looked at a corner of my eye and Sharon was like now, I told you to go sit back there.
Speaker 1:So it wasn't a break. It was not a break. Was it fruitful? Yes, did it fill my heart? Yes, was I glad to hug those necks? Yes, and it wasn't a break.
Speaker 1:So we have to talk about and learn how to take effective micro breaks. Micro breaks are throughout your day, throughout your day. How are you taking breaks throughout your day to reset, to recover, to be refreshed, right, pbj? I can't stop. I don't have time to stop. If I stop, all of this falls apart. We're short-staffed. I don't have anybody that can take my place at work. I don't have support at home or at work to stop.
Speaker 1:Friends, if any of these thoughts come to mind when you think about taking a break, you are the person who needs to stop the most. I want to offer you our stop plan Simple. I want you to use the same strategies and wisdom and skills that you use at work and I'm going to guide you to using those strategies to plan micro breaks. I'm not talking about a month's sabbatical, but can you incorporate micro breaks into your life as a regular rhythm of rest so that while you are serving, while you are giving, you can have moments of revival, so that you can live the life you're living sustainably. Friend, you need to grab this stop plan. Make sure to click the link in the show notes or wherever you're watching or listening to this, so that you can get what you need right now. It can't wait. I know you do a wonderful job, but people don't know what it costs you to be you, and you know what the cost is. Man. It's time to stop. Grab the plan today.
Speaker 1:I want you to think of a real micro break as a moment where your brain gets to rest. Let's get a little deeper into it, because I think you think you're taking breaks, but you're not. You think you're stopping for a moment, but you're not. If you stop for a moment and, like I did today, start scrolling and taking in more information, to some point, maybe doom scrolling, that's not rest. That's more impact, more information, more processing on your brain. That's not rest If you take a break to have a conversation with someone, even if it's someone you love, and there is a place for social rest, there is a place to engage with other people, to feel connected, to have that reciprocity. But that's not what we're talking about in this moment. I'm talking about micro breaks through your day where your brain gets the opportunity to recover, where your brain gets the opportunity to release toxins, where your brain gets the opportunity to kind of reset itself so that it can take in more information. And that is not having a conversation with a friend that is not listening to a podcast, even if it's mine that is not listening to an audio book. That is not.
Speaker 1:We are addicted to information. We're addicted, we are addicted to taking in more and more and more information. You don't even have moments of silence right now. In order to have a moment of silence, you have to intentionally make it happen. Silence is like a rare gift. We fill our days and our atmosphere with sound. Even as I'm walking, bella, I have to intentionally tell myself don't put your headphones in, don't turn on another song or another podcast or another book. Just walk, just be outside and walk the dog so that your brain can rest and recover.
Speaker 1:One of the reasons why we are constantly overwhelmed is because we are constantly processing information, and not all of that information is bad in and of itself. Not all of that information is overwhelming in and of itself, but it's just too much of it. It's too much information. So I want you to reconsider how you are giving your brain a break, how you are taking micro breaks throughout the day to allow your brain to repair, to recover and reset. You know, these bodies that we are created in, these bodies are miracles. It's a miracle how your body can heal itself, how you can get a cut and in a few days, that cut has healed and new skin has grown. Or how you can go through surgery and through going through that surgery, your body begins to mend itself back together. Or how parts can, cells can regenerate. These bodies are a miracle, and that includes your brain. Your brain can recover, it can refresh itself, it can release toxins, it can reset, it can come back better after a break.
Speaker 1:But we have to allow time and we have to be intentional about taking micro breaks that are effective. So let me give you a few ideas of micro breaks that are effective and, friend, I'm going to tell you now. There are things that you know. There are things that you know, but they seem too simple, they seem like things you really don't have time to do, right? So I got a list here that I literally Googled, and then I have a list that I've written for you that I want to share with you, right? So this is just straight Google. All right, let's not be deep here. Straight Google. When I put in restorative breaks in Google, here are some of the things that came up.
Speaker 1:Move your body. Even a short walk or a moderate exercise can improve your concentration and cognitive functioning, whether that is three squats or five squats. Get up out of your chair to do that, whether that's a walk down the hall and back, or you shut your door, you turn your music up and dance. Move your body, connect with nature. Being in nature can be restorative. I want to come back to that one. Rest your eyes. Take a break from screens. Stretch. Stretching can help you relax. I want to come back to that one Meditate.
Speaker 1:You can listen to a guided meditation or attend a session online. Take a nap. A short power nap can help you feel more energized. So let me talk about connecting with nature. I want you to think about how you can walk outside. I'm talking five or ten minutes. Walk outside, and this is not my meditation, but this is one I've heard over and over for years, but it helps. It's a mindful exercise that allows you to ground yourself in your environment. So let me tell you what I mean. Walk outside and I want you to name five things that you see, doesn't matter what it is A tree, a flower, a bee, a car, a building, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1:Five things that you see. And then I want you to name four things that you hear. For whatever it is, whatever it is in your environment, in your atmosphere, for things that you hear. So right now I can say I can hear Bella snoring. I hope y'all can't. I took her little bells off and I took all of her little ringy, dingy things off so that she would not interrupt our podcast. And now she is snoring like a grown man. Our podcast, and now she is snoring like a grown man. All right, focus, pbj. Five things. You see, four things. You hear, three things that you smell, three things that you smell, two things that you can touch and one thing that you taste. Sometimes taste can be a little hard, but just try it.
Speaker 1:The goal is not to get things right. The goal is to ground yourself in your environment and allow your brain to just center for a minute and the next thing is to take a deep breath. And when you're taking a deep breath even if you're doing this from your desk I want you to take a deep breath and hold it at the top for four seconds and then release it very slowly. So you take your breath in One, two, three. Hold One, two, three, four. Release one, two, three, four, five, six. Sometimes we don't even realize we are holding our breath, or we got our shoulders up by our ears or our tongue is stuck to the roof of our mouth because we're not relaxed. So, after a tough meeting or after a big assignment or a hard project or maybe you're still struggling with it and you haven't gotten it done yet just take a moment, take a moment to ground yourself, take a moment to breathe.
Speaker 1:I want to talk about stretching. Stretching is something that I have rediscovered, I'll say, in the last year or so. So, growing up, I was always a cheerleader. Yes, I was, I was the captain of the cheerleading squad. I was, I was the captain of the cheerleading squad. I did not play Okay, I was a serious cheerleader. But I remember, with cheerleading, stretching just seemed like the throwaway thing. We did it right Because we were tumbling and holding folks up in the air and all the things. So we did the stretching, but it just felt like something extra. Okay, we're just going to do this to say we did it. We checked the box.
Speaker 1:It wasn't until I turned 40, friend, that I realized how essential stretching is and how important it is to stretch. Learning how to stretch has literally relieved pain from my body my knees and my hips and my lower back and pain. I'm talking chronic pain, day to day pain working with. Shout out to Dr G, dr Santresa Greenidge, with my wellness sessions, dr G has taught me the power of stretching and how a stretching regimen helps my muscles carry my body and do what I need to do without pain. So when I say stretching, I'm telling you do not sleep on it. Do not sleep on it. Do not just check the box, but learn how to stretch effectively. The box, but learn how to stretch effectively. Dr G encouraged me to get a stretch strap that helps me to stretch more deeply. Y'all just do it.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'll link Dr G here so that you all can reach out to her if you need help. But just I mean really. I mean, learn how to stretch well, learn how to stretch appropriately, learn how to stretch effectively. It will bring you relief, especially for my friends who are 40, nearing 40, over 40. Friend, you need to be stretching. You need to be stretching. I don't know if anybody told you, but you need to be stretching. And there are some stretches that you can do just sitting at your desk. There are some stretches that you can do just standing up in the office, if you, or in your classroom, wherever you might be. But you need to learn how to stretch your muscles, not only to relieve you physically, but also to relieve you mentally, right? So I'm going to keep giving you some tips for how to take an effective break, a micro break that works. So here are a few more things.
Speaker 1:We talked about walking outside, deep breathing, mindful exercises, breath prayer, where you breathe in and you breathe out. And as you breathe in, maybe you breathe in a request and then you breathe out a scripture or affirmation or word that encourages you, whatever works for you. Maybe it's scripture that you recognize or you've memorized Whatever works for you. But breath prayer is another way to take an effective break. And then this last one I love. It may not be your thing, but I love it.
Speaker 1:Another way of grounding is to literally put your feet in the grass or your hands in some dirt. Now, friend, listen to me, just stay with me. Okay, like I grew up in the country, I grew up in Crockettville, south Carolina, and my people are farming people and when I was growing up I thought inside was my assigned place. I don't want nothing to do with all that dirt, I don't want to be out there, I don't want to pick nothing, I don't want to be in the heat, I didn't want anything to do with it. Right?
Speaker 1:But as I've gotten older, I have learned that having my hands in the soil whether I'm replanting one of my potted plants or whether I'm planting a new one or putting a little raised bed together having my hands in the soil fuels my heart. And I am not out there calculating anything, trying to figure it out, processing anything. I'm just doing what I'm doing. I'm just doing what I'm doing, and it is so refreshing to me, it gives my brain such a break. So when I say micro break, you don't necessarily have to sit there and just do nothing. For a lot of us that is detrimental, because then our mind really starts to run right. But you can do activity that allows your brain to rest. I'll give you one more and then I'm going to let you go. So last week I've told you also I have a community of women called the Heart Work Community and this community is faith-filled women and we walk out our faith together.
Speaker 1:They're also professional women, so we talk about work strategies and how to get through things. Women, so we talk about work strategies and how to get through things and we do life together, from empty nesting to retiring to getting new jobs, to getting married, to having babies. All of it is happening in the hard work community. And last week we had a celebration. We have some sisters in the community who are getting married and who got new jobs and who are preparing to welcome a new baby. So we took a moment to celebrate our sisters and in that celebration I mailed the ladies. I should have gotten all of this to show you, but I mailed the ladies a packet and I told them not to open the packet until we were all together on Zoom, because they live all over the country Until we were all together on Zoom and we opened them. And before they opened them, I told them that the theme of our celebration was BTK Day and I had them guess what BTK was. Some of them got pretty close once they saw what was in the packet.
Speaker 1:But BTK is back to kindergarten day and this is something that I would do with my college students as they got into midterm time or exam time and they were all stressed out. I would call a BTK day, and for BTK day I would bring coloring books. Btk day, and for BTK day I would bring coloring books. So I sent all the ladies a coloring book and I sent them some colored pencils and some play-doh and mini puzzles and um, I think that's it, I can't remember if they're. Oh, we, we got some special heart work, um, heart sister keychains made. So they got their official keychains.
Speaker 1:But what I told them was I wanted to offer them the gift of simplicity. I wanted to offer them the gift of simplicity because when things are chaotic, simple is a gift. So I encourage them. If they felt like coloring, if they felt like playing with Play-Doh, if they felt like putting together a puzzle, I encourage them to embrace simplicity in the middle of the chaos. So maybe in your micro break you want to keep a coloring book and some pens in your office, or maybe a little mini thing of Play-Doh or a little puzzle.
Speaker 1:I've been thinking about how I can take my life back to a simpler time. In the middle of chaos, simplicity is a gift. In the middle of chaos, simplicity is a gift. So I've been intentional about, instead of the scrolling, instead of the information, instead of the devices, what can I do that allows my brain to recover? So maybe you want to color or you want to play with Lego blocks or whatever fuels you, friend, but I want you to practice and it takes practice. If you have been overworking and overachieving for over a decade, it's going to take more than one time trying for you to get this right, for you to get this right.
Speaker 1:So I want to encourage you to practice taking effective micro breaks throughout your day.
Speaker 1:Give your brain a chance to recover and restore itself, a chance to release toxins, a chance to process information from earlier in the day and watch how your brain will reward you by coming back more focused, more productive, more creative, more strategic. Friend, you can get the thing done. You hear me, the things that are frustrating you, the things that feel like brick walls like you cannot find the solution. I dare you to give your brain a break. I challenge you Walk away from it. Give your brain an effective break and watch how your brain will respond in giving you what you need. All right, friend, I got to let you go, but I hope you got what you needed. And my challenge to you is to practice taking effective micro breaks throughout your day and then let me know, let me know you did it and how it went, and keep trying. All right, friend, as always. You know you are powerful, you are significant, you are brilliant and you are loved. Love always. Friend PBJj, I'll see you next time, bye.
