Ok, Time Out! Step Back Before You Fall Out

Image Credit: Ryan Snaadt

C’mon, let’s face it. We put far too much pressure on ourselves to accomplish something quickly, and far too often we get burned out faster than a match in a forest fire. Many of us are reevaluating how much time we spend writing and posting on this forum. I truly understand. Oftentimes, life calls us to reprioritize our priorities. While we love our new subscribers, the likes, and the wonderful, insightful comments many post in our comment section, we realize it’s critical to step back from time to time, and simply breathe. Be wise and don’t push yourself so hard, especially when you don’t have to. There is no need to apologize for having to do that before getting burned out.

But this doesn’t only apply to our blogs or social media sites but it also applies to reevaluating our time management in our daily lives. We have to look at whether our focus and purpose are prioritized so we can move forward and not fall into the despair of discouragement and sheer exhaustion. Overdoing it doesn’t make it any better, it just makes you feel more exhausted, burned out, discouraged, and frustrated.

Don’t wait for someone to tell you to take a break, because the break could catch up and break you. So pause for the cause while you still can!

A Blogging Siesta?

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        Writing. We compose oodles of posts each week but eventually discover that we become burned out from writing, reading, and “thinking” about what to write daily. Sitting at our computers or perched somewhere with our smartphones for hours on end, can distract us from checking our internal engine light to make sure our physical and writing faculties are operating at full capacity. Such burnout is evident on the blogging platform because we writers tend to put “undue” pressure on ourselves by posting something every day, even multiple times a day.

      Let’s face it, we all have a life, right? I’ve seen the disappearance of many people I was once connected to who no longer blog or haven’t blogged in years. For whatever their reasons for suddenly stopping or deleting their site completely, a few people I’ve communicated with indicate that they were just burned out and no longer have time, the desire, or energy to devote to writing a post for a blog. Getting started is an exciting endeavor, and having other writers interact with your compositions is indeed exhilarating. You gain confidence, and that energizes you to continue to improve and expand your writing repertoire.

        There is no need to apologize for having to step away from your screens for a while. Let me tell ya, burnout is real. We must press the PAUSE or STOP button before we continue writing, and writing effectively. Trust me, you will know when your “check engine light” for your body flashes on because you will feel it!

        How do we make our blogs complement what we do, whether it’s business or personal? While the blogging community is an excellent source of communication, camaraderie, and information, we have to be clear about what our blogging could lead or not lead us to in the long run. How do we make the things we write about an asset instead of a liability? Many of us have other projects we are in the process of developing, and devoting our time to. Sometimes it behooves us to step away and come back fresh, renewed, and alive to heighten our success on this platform.

        You can call it a melt-down, a wipe-out, under-pressure, depression, lethargy, or overwhelm, but burnout is a “burn” out, no ifs, and’s, or buts about it! You will know when it is time to take a blogging siesta. Just don’t fight it, do it! This might not only apply to the practice of blogging but to other creative and professional endeavors too. You may never realize just how much you may need to take a break and then come back. Cheers! 🥂

Image Credit: Morgan Basham

Under Pressure?

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        Like a runaway train about to derail at any moment, we can get lost in overextending our ambitions. Overly ambitious? Trying to be at the top of your game? This is what society deems as working our way to success.

        I saw a quote recently that stated, “You can’t be successful if you can’t handle pressure.” So, when I thought about that particular quote, and frankly I don’t know who wrote it, I saw how this could be slightly misleading. Society tells us that if we work hard then we will succeed. But oh contraire. Sometimes the way things look isn’t always what they are. We get sidetracked trying to measure up and reach those levels of success based on the goalposts and guidelines that others construct for us to follow.

        The next thing you know your world comes crashing down, shattered into a million pieces that can’t be put back together again. Why? Because the road leading to someone else’s success may not be the one you need to travel down. You feel like you’re coming apart at the seams or feel shattered like broken glass, and you’re walking on the shards barefoot. It seems like you’re burned out and feel you’ve failed miserably. We sometimes feel like we’re free-falling from an airplane that has reached its maximum altitude with no doors or windows and find ourselves plummeting and splattering to the ground without a parachute.

        Do you ever feel like a pressure cooker, and your lid is about to explode through the roof at any second now? Is it simply because you’ve taken on too much and you’re overwhelmed because you haven’t accomplished the things on your goals list on your projected timetable? Where do you go, what do you do, and who can you turn to for relief?

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        Do exit strategies help to alleviate that pressure or add to it? It’s good to push yourself to an extent but not to send yourself tumbling overboard. As that old saying goes, “Life is a marathon, not a sprint.” Do it for you, not to please someone else or on some standardized term and timetable for your life. When the game is over, let it be over. Get your life back and sharpen your pencil to design your blueprint for success. Don’t put yourself under pressure when you don’t have to.

Image Credit: Cottonbro

Image Credit: Nataliya Vaitkevich