Prepper Burnout

Ranger
Man
The Survival Mom



Prepping is
different from other pursuits in that it can easily lead to burnout.
People that correctly identify the need to take reasonable preparations
do so out of a recognition that modern society operates on a very
fragile social structure, that there are serious economic or environmental
concerns that could impact oneÂ’s quality of life, or a variety
of other legitimate concerns. People new to prepping are particularly
vulnerable to prepper burnout. Before long, you find yourself focused
solely on negative, doom-is-imminent news articles. The apocalypse
begins to seem like itÂ’s right around the corner. You start
purchasing extra food and equipment and begin to think thatÂ’s
prepping is too expensive, and youÂ’re so far behind where you
want to be that it may not even be worth prepping at all.

Prepping burnout
happened to me, at one point leading to a year long break from my
survival blog. I was beginning to see the world through an apocalyptic
lens, seeing only the doom and gloom in the evening news, wondering
what the future would hold for my children, and feeling frustrated
that if the SHTF tomorrow, my
family
and I would be in trouble because we were far from ready.

Before long,
things like tending the garden became less of an outdoor, leisurely
activity that produces good tasting quality food to one that focused
on high calorie crops and continual garden expansion to allow for
more food production (and consequently more work). What started
as a hobby quickly became a chore. Prepping as a pursuit became
an unfulfilling burden.

Five tips
to avoid Prepper Burnout

I learned a
few things from that experience that I now offer as suggestions
for any of you that may be on the verge of prepper burnout.

  1. Take
    a break.
    This may sound obvious, but if youÂ’re in an
    anxiety induced prepping frenzy, itÂ’s not obvious. Taking
    a break when doom is everywhere and your preps are close to
    nowhere doesnÂ’t pass the logic test. But if taking a break
    until the doom clouds lift and youÂ’re able to see more
    clearly, more positively, taking a break makes perfect sense.
    A break may mean the difference between committing to a long-term,
    slow, incremental preparedness track that you make progress
    on and crashing and burning because you went too fast with too
    much.

  2. There
    are two sides to any story.
    While there is plenty of bad
    news that could lead you to think all social order is on the
    verge of collapse, there are plenty of news articles that support
    just the opposite idea, that people are good at their core and
    when disaster strikes, people come together. Find a balance
    in the news you read.

Read
the rest of the article

January
26, 2012

Copyright
© 2012 The
Survival Mom