We’ve co-created a simple and fun tool to help you and those that you work with or love to decrease burnout and increase your well-being through simple practices. Use it as a daily personal or competitive challenge and see if you can get a “bingo” by checking off five boxes in a row in any direction.
The challenges in Burnout Bingo have been specifically designed to increase your holistic well-being in a way that provides variety, simplicity, engages all five senses, and integrates all five dimensions of personhood (body, mind, heart, spirit, and soul).
Grab this free download and check out the list below for the scientific benefits of each quick and easy practice. And obviously, be sure to shout out BINGO and the winner (hopefully, that’s you!) a prize for getting five in a row!
Burnout Bingo
Co-created by Megan Gilmore & Aubrey Baker
Sat in natural light for 15 min
Natural sunlight triggers the body’s production of Vitamin D. This sunshine vitamin protects against inflammation, improves brain function and sleep quality, and has a huge impact on depression and seasonal affective disorder.
Expressed gratitude to a living breathing human
Practicing gratitude IRL increases happiness and positive mood, makes burnout less likely, lowers inflammation, decreases fatigue, increases sleep quality, and increases your ability to bounce back quickly from negative experiences.
Gave myself a compliment
Giving yourself genuine compliments improves life satisfaction, reduces pain, increases cardiovascular health, increases vitality, and decreases stress. (Bonus points if you look yourself in the eyes in a mirror or lay your hands on your heart, when giving yourself said compliment. Sounds weird, yep! But it works….that’s why you get bonus points.)
Got 7-9 hours of sleep
A full 7-9 hours of sleep maintains your immune system, keeps your memory sharp, enhances resiliency, improves your mood and gives you a stronger ability to regulate your emotions.
Created a piece of art
Taking time to create a piece of art provides a sense of accomplishment, encourages creative thinking, boosts self esteem, and relieves burdensome stress by improving your quality of life.
Baked homemade bread or cookies
Who doesn’t love cookies? Not only does baking give you something delicious to look forward to, but it also gives you a feeling of control during times when you might feel things are out of your hands. Similarly to meditation, baking can help to enhance mood by giving yourself small tasks to focus on. Baking requires you to stay in the moment when adding ingredients, adjusting temperatures, tasting the food to ensure everything is tasting okay, etc. This attention to detail provides a distraction to everyday stressors.
Inhaled essential oil blend
Essential oils are created by extracting the natural oils in plants through a steam distillation or cold-press process, resulting in an extremely concentrated product packed with healing benefits. Using essential oils triggers responses in the brain that send healing to the body. Oils can balance out hormone levels, heal digestive disorders, and dramatically reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Infused H2O with lemon and mint
Lemons contain a lot of vitamin C which helps to boost your immune system, regulate digestion, flushes out toxins and cleanses your liver. Additionally, the vitamin C in lemons can help alleviate stress and fight viral infections and sore throats. Drinking water provides hydration for your body, and your brain cells, to operate at an optimal level. Studies have identified a connection between dehydration and mood.
Stopped and literally smelled the roses
Taking a walk outside to get space from crazy or smelling flowers from the garden, getting outside is just one way to feel better. Over the years, scientists have shown that nature, or green space, can provide stress relief, increase social interaction, encourage physical exercise and even help soothe negative thoughts.
Lit a candle for someone I love
Candles can be lit as a way to set an intention. To hold intentions, or hope for someone/something. Lighting candles have been used as a practice to increase hope and focus on what’s most important to us for hundreds of years. Specifically focusing on someone that you love while doing this increases your optimism, empathy and compassion.
Had a sweet, sour, and salty snack
When you are doing deep learning your body is depleted of minerals such as potassium, sodium, and glucose. In order to replenish, restore, and rapidly recover (emotional elasticity) you can eat foods that are high in these minerals such as bananas, oranges, avocados, yogurt, sweet potatoes, spinach, orange juice, etc.
Had a meal with my best friend
Not only is good company with a friend refreshing and encouraging, but our brain processes and associates smell with memory. When a familiar smell enters the nose, it goes through the cranial nerve and through the olfactory bulb, which helps the brain process a smell. The olfactory bulb is part of the limbic system, the emotions and memory center of the brain. The olfactory has a strong connection to the amygdala, which processes emotions and emotional memories. The memories associated with a particular smell are much more powerful.
Tried a new recipe
Trying something new requires courage. However, finding something new opens the door to enjoying something new. When we allow ourselves to step out of what is familiar we are able to see a new perspective. During these times of burnout or exhaustion, finding something new that you enjoy can is relaxing and refreshing.
Enjoyed an herbal tea
Herbal teas are made from the fruit, flower, leaf or root of herbal plants. They are naturally caffeine free, so they can be consumed anytime of the day. Because of their antioxidants and minerals they come with many medicinal properties and health benefits that increase our overall well-being - some of these include reduced inflammation, improved digestion, reduced blood pressure, improved immunity, and relieving stress and anxiety.
Wore an article of clothing I love
Pull out that favorite jacket, pair of earrings, socks or t-shirt and wear it today. The clothes that we wear are an act of self-expression. Self-esteem is the way that you feel about yourself. Boosting your self-esteem by feeling good in what you are wearing can improve and boost your confidence
Gave and received a hug
Hugs and physical touch in general releases oxytocin, or otherwise known as the bonding hormone. Oxytocin is most often created in the hypothalamus in the brain, and some of it is released into the bloodstream through the pituitary gland. But some of it remains in the brain, where it influences mood, behavior and physiology. Want to be a pro at giving a hug? The left side of the body is controlled by the right side of the brain which is involved in processing both positive and negative emotions. Therefore, giving hugs to the left side allows for a connection between your emotions and motor preferences making the hug more physiologically effective.
Expressed an idea with clay
Not only is creating something with your hands excellent for the development of your fine motor skills, but it also increases your ability to be creative. When you express ideas through a physical creation, you are creating a structure. Structures remind us of things that are important to us. This can also provide a way to focus your attention on something other than the stressors in your life.
Carried a gratitude rock in my pocket
Recent studies have shown that practices of gratitude can improve cardiovascular health, boosts mental health and resilience to stress, and helps you cope with stressful experiences by reminding you of the positive aspects of your life even in the midst of suffering. When you carry around a gratitude rock, it can serve as a simple reminder to think of something that you are grateful for in the moment instead of later when things slow down.
Completed a yoga flow
On top of its numerous benefits for your physical health, yoga also develops a deep inner awareness and non-judgement toward yourself and others when practiced well. Some of our favorite benefits are increased self-compassion and awareness, increased concentration and focus, and improved flexibility and emotional agility.
Identified five sounds I heard outside
Identifying sounds that you hear is a grounding technique. Grounding is a way to stay in the present moment when your mind and your body want to escape to feelings of stress or trauma. Choose to take an active stance in your healing rather than a passive stance.
Listened to a well-being playlist
Lark’s Song has made many playlists with different themes and moods. There are studies that show listening to music allows your brain to release chemicals that distract your body from pain. When music reaches the brain’s auditory cortex, there is communication between the cortex and the structures in the brain associated with emotion, memory, and motor control. Additionally, listening to the lyrics in a song allows you to take a different perspective on the situations you might be feeling stuck around. Music trains your brain to think differently and gives you an outlet of self-expression.
Learned something new from a podcasts
When we focus on learning about the things that we truly enjoy and get lost in them we call that flow. Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology describes this as a critical component to the PERMA model, which is a method of measuring human flourishing. In his book, Flourish we read that, “When we focus on doing the things we truly enjoy and care about, we can begin to engage completely with the present moment and enter the state of being known as flow” (Seligman, 2011).
Sang in the shower and drove with my windows down
The vagus nerve is a long, critical nerve that wanders from your brain all the way down your neck, chest and abdomen, connecting the brain stem to the body. Subsequently, it's associated with a host of different physical functions including swallowing, taste, digestion and heart rate. Activating this nerve basically tells your brain all is well, stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system to relax you. Now, your voice box (larynx) is connected to your vagus nerve. Subsequently, when you hum or sing, you naturally activate it. Experts know that, even without humming, the vagus nerve links to respiration, and that slowing down exhalation has a positive effect for calm, activating the parasympathetic nervous system.
Listened to a guided meditation
Meditation can be simply defined as thinking about the same thing over and over again. Throughout a given day, you may think about a lot of things over and over again that aren’t beneficial or true. Meditation is a way to intentionally focus on the things that are true or the things that you hope for. In thinking about them over and over again or focusing our minds on them for a period of time, we can actually create new neural pathways in our brains and bodies that increase our well-being (Google “neuroplasticity” or “positive neuroplasticity”). Meditation also decreases stress among a number of other benefits. Guided meditations are an accessible and easy way to start or continue your meditation practice.