Visually organizing ideas, capturing information does it light a fire or burst into flames is it worth the stress of conceptual claims?
More often than not, I seek solace by decluttering my mind with wannabes vs. actual achievements. Who am I trying to impress anyway? We grumble about the annoyance and exhaustion of turning the volume down so we can hear our thoughts and lower our blood pressure. While mind-mapping is information shaped into a hierarchy, showing relationships among pieces of the whole, I find the practice useful for work-related illustration purposes, yet for everyday internalization and consumption, nah, I think for the sake of serenity and sanity, I’ll pass.
Can’t seem to get enough done in a short span of time? Do you put more pressure on yourself than you have to? Let’s face it, sometimes, we get stuck in our overachieving mode and can’t find a way to turn it off. Then, and yes, there is always a ‘then,’ we get so stressed, depressed, and quite often obsessed when our goals go awry. I think it’s safe to say that it’s time to take a step, or two, or three back.
Quite often, we tend to back ourselves into the infamous “deadline” corner and can’t come out because we are so overwhelmed with what seems like an endless list of things to do, squeezed into a time frame that looks appealing but is quite deceptive.
I’ve spoken to many people who find themselves caught in the crossfire of setting aggressive goals, and the reality is more than they bargained for. At this point, they forcefully put their foot on the brakes, instead of gradually slowing down to avoid whiplash. We try to hurry up and rush the process, then learn that silly mistakes can quickly and easily sink our ship sailing towards progress. Impatience will certainly lead to disappointments, and at times, disaster.
Try to examine what led you to this place of overwhelm, which makes you feel defeated. It’s not always by someone else’s design, but even if it was, you can still change the narrative. Don’t be in a rush to impress others who probably don’t care about what you’re doing or your well-being. We stress out over stuff we really don’t need to. Personally, I learned I would have fumbled badly and made costly mistakes if I didn’t slow my roll. There’s only but so much time in a day. Your body has to adapt to rest, relaxation, and repair, or you are no good for nothing. Beware of those non-negotiable-looking deadlines because they could turn deadly if you don’t take your foot off the “gotta get it done right now” accelerator. Find the courage to cut yourself some slack and lighten up. If you don’t, you are liable to self-destruct at any unexpected moment. Then what?
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! 🥂
I did not plan to post anything this morning, but I am going to be as short as possible. When I read our friend Elvira Gonzalez’s post yesterday, she said this, “Taking care of my COVID patients, I have been infected, so a little indisposed.” After checking in with her, I learned that Elvira has been caring for her parents. They contracted COVID, and then she got it. Her doctor said they have a mild case because thank God they got their three vaccination shots. Please keep her and her parents in your prayers. 🙏🏼
Next, this has been a week where we were not short of “stress-induced” situations. We won’t discuss it today, because more craziness is yet to unfold. You can count on that. So y’all, all jokes aside, put out your “Sorry We Are Closed” sign because even if you feel the least bit exhausted or you are dealing with stuff you have NO control over, stress will creep up on you like a ravenous lion. Put out your closed sign and let stress pass you on by today. Stress will elevate any issue, no matter how mild or extreme. The health risks are not worth it. Do YOU today! Ciao! 🛁
Sometimes we don’t realize how we get caught up in crazy until it’s too late. Have you ever noticed how much your stress intensifies because you are caught in a briar bush of “crazy” belonging to someone else? Have you ever gotten swept up in someone else’s mess, whether it is from some dysfunction you experienced in childhood, teenhood, or adulthood?
Image Credit: Cottonbro
Has this dysfunction left you wounded, as you discover yourself in a state of crouching in the shadows, wrapped up in unexplained emotions like a mummy? Well, it’s time to get moving and reset our resiliency by recovering from the dysfunctions, rediscovering our essence and purpose, and then renewing our spirits, minds, and bodies. This is not about the overall craziness but about self-care in the midst of craziness. Once we discover we can walk steadily after crawling, we pick up our momentum, turning a walk into a stroll, a stroll into a jog, and a jog into a marathon. We can only do this if we redirect our attention from the distractions that divide and refocus our vision on the direction where we are headed.
Let today be a “Just let it go” kind of day. We know we are responsible for our actions, and our actions have consequences, whether good or bad, regardless of who we are.
The action and opinions of others, what happens around you, and disappointments from the past are a smidgen of the things out of your control. Let it go. If you get caught up in the drama of those things that are out of your control, you will drive yourself crazy. So step away from the runaway vehicle carrying a carload of craziness. Pay attention to what is within your grasp, you know, the stuff you can do something about?
If we eat the meat and leave the scraps, we will feel lighter because we’re carrying around less weight, and promoting personal stress reduction. Consider it as a diet plan where you are cutting down on your intake of food that’s bad for your health. People will be people, but remember, you will always be you. If you don’t take care of yourself, how can you expect to take care of those you love? Just a thought. 🤔
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?
Image Credit: AnnRve
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.
What is perfection, and is perfection really perfect? You know, many moons ago, during a job interview, one of the questions asked was what my biggest flaw was? I was instructed to reply with a positive attribute, which could be viewed as a weakness. My answer was that my biggest flaw was trying to be a perfectionist. Quite frankly, that was the truth, and it was one of the greatest things that brought me the most stress.
My intentions were good. I always did my best and made sure I was satisfied that I did my best. Yet, in my overthinking mind, I always wanted my best to be better. I like to exceed my expectations. Yet, through these expectations, I always wondered if my so-called perfection diluted my wisdom? Yes, in a way, I believe it did.
I can become a little anal when it comes down to presentation. I don’t think I will ever outgrow that, or even if I want to lose my grip on being the best that I can always be. I try not to allow stress to get the best of me.
Look y’all, we try to do our best with what we have. Do not compare yourself with others because it can send your “perfectionism” derailing down the tracks in the path of a runaway train. Don’t use your perfectionism to prove yourself to others who only see you as a workhorse and not the talented, gifted individual you are.
Why is everyone in a rush I ask? Hitting the fast-forward button we must ponder, can we be overbusy? Is there really such a thing as falling into the bondage of busyness? Do we make a futile attempt to try to keep up with the sprint through the state of peace? Do we find a problem with time, or do we have a problem with choices on what to do, how fast we do it, or when we get things done?
We must be careful to avoid being eaten alive by the choices we make. We try to keep up, with an internal tremor ending in a web of blind deceit. We must subtract trying to manage stress. We can’t become entangled and constricted by overdoing it. In the end, we have a choice. To engage or not to engage in overbusyness, that is the question! 🤔
“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” ~William Shakespeare
Do you sometimes feel like you are suffocating in an unbreakable bubble, suffering from that dreaded emotion called dissatisfaction? Just one tiny simple step, away from the fangs of doubt and fear, can be liberating and motivating to conquer that traitor called doubt that has taken residence in you.Stepping away may not be as hard as you think. Put one foot in front of the other!It’s time to get moving if you’ve been sitting idle for a while.
From Behind the Pen 