Before You Plan for 2025, Read This: A Burnout-Aware Approach to Goal-Setting

Have you noticed the flood of "2025 Planning" posts from fellow therapists on social media? If you're feeling a mix of envy ("I should start planning too!") and dread ("...but I'm already depleted"), you're not alone.

As an ADHDer therapist, planning has never been my strong suit. I've learned to hold myself with self-compassion through numerous "flearnings" (failing + learning). This journey led me to question: What if our traditional planning process itself is contributing to our burnout?

The Planning Traps We're All Too Familiar With

I know from lived experience how easy it is for us therapists to fall into traditional planning traps. Are you thinking of big plans to run your online offer? Fancy learning another therapeutic model for your CPD? (I see you, fellow eternal learners - I just wrote down my wish to get trained in EMDR next year!)

But here's what I've realised - the past me was always adding more exciting things without subtracting anything. Sound familiar? And let's be honest, we often plan from "should" instead of "want." Hey, while we're here, I hope you've had some time to reflect on breaking those Good Therapist spells - you know, the ones where we unconsciously use achievements to validate our self-worth. Been there, done that!

Here's My Burnout-Aware Alternative (Because We Need One!)

I've got 3 tips that have really helped me shift from traditional planning to burnout-aware planning:

1. Body-First Planning
Pause first, therapists! Before you rush into that year-end planning, check in with yourself. How's your energy baseline? Where are you carrying tension? What is your body actually asking for? Has 2024’s rhythm of working worked for you? If you often end up being so exhausted, consider this an invitation to do something differently.

This year, I've been doing more proactive time orientation and make time to plan every quarter (thanks to my amazing coach!), and it's been so helpful in being gentler with my 'chasing shiny object' part!

2. Subtract Before Adding
Real talk - do you have too much on your plate right now? When was the last time you actually audited your commitments? Out of your list of commitments, what can you delete, automate or delegate?

For me, employing virtual assistants this year has been an absolute game-changer, and it's definitely staying in my 2025 plan! If you've got big dreams for 2025 (and I bet you do!), remember we've all got the same 24 hours. We're not extra special superhumans (even though our self-sacrificing tendency might try to convince us otherwise...)

3. Design Your Self-Care Ritual First
What are your non-negotiable self-care rituals that have actually worked this year? And be honest - how often do you cancel on yourself because of work commitments? (I've been there too!)

So, before you rush in to do your planning for 2025, I encourage you to do this REST method created based on my experience!

The REST Method

R: Release what's not serving
If you're like me and those 'survival' tendencies are still hanging around but no longer serving you, it's time to let them go! Whether it's the excitement of 'shiny object syndrome' making you run like a headless chook (guilty!), or those 'unrelenting standards' keeping you in the burnout cycle - it's time to release them.

E: Evaluate energy capacity
Let's get real about our energy. As someone who used to push through until I crashed (repeatedly!), I've learned that tuning in is way better than tuning out. Sure, we can plan ways to expand our 'window of capacity,' but let's not overwhelm our nervous system in the process. Ongoing energy tracking would be helpful to plan and adapt as you go, moment-to-moment, day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month.

S: Set sustainable self-care rituals
Listen, I've tried ALL the self-care practices (seriously, name it, I've probably attempted it!). But here's what I've learned - it's not about doing ALL the things. It's about finding what actually works for YOU.

Maybe it's that morning walk before clinic days (my personal favourite), or perhaps it's your sacred opening and closing of work ritual. Maybe it’s the Pilates class that you schedule after clinic days. Whatever it is, keep the practices that bring out the best in you. And please, please, please - block out that time and keep your promise to yourself! I know it's tempting to squeeze in "another work commitment" in that self-care slot, but your future self will thank you for holding that boundary.

T: Trust your timing
"Trust your timing. What's meant for you won't pass you by."

Oh, how I wish I'd truly understood this earlier! I can't tell you how many times I've fallen into the seductive pull of hustle culture. But here's the truth I've learned the hard way - we're each running our own race.

If you're feeling that tension while pursuing your big goals (and I know you've got them!), maybe it's okay to make more space. You don't have to fill every blank space in your calendar. That constant comparison to peers? It's exhausting and unnecessary.

Instead, try checking in with your top 5 personal values. When I finally did this, it was like putting on glasses I didn't know I needed! If you're showing up and upholding your values as your north stars, you're already on the right path. Yes, you might be far from that destination, but it is the process that matters.

You know what I've realized? Time is just this confine we put on ourselves in our hustle culture. While it's helpful to plan with a timeline (hello, practical world!), we need to hold these plans lightly. We are SO much more than our goals.

The process of evolving from our past selves to our future selves can actually be beautiful if we allow ourselves to be more present and less caught up in that ego voice whispering (or sometimes shouting) "I should have achieved this by now!"

A Little Note From My Heart to Yours
As we wrap up this reflection together, I want to ask you something I've been asking myself lately: What would your goals look like if they came from REST and abundance rather than scarcity? How different would your 2025 planning feel if you approached it from this gentle, intentional space?

I truly hope these reflections help you create a soul-aligned plan for 2025 - one that lets you blossom and thrive, minus the burnout!