Do you think you might be at risk of being over-stressed and over-committed? It would make sense since we’re living in a productivity, side hustling, working hard, standing out from the crowd kind of world.
It’s easy to get swept up in doing your best and striving for success, but we have to remind ourselves that it’s okay to slow down.
So how do you know if you’re over-stressed and over-committed?
You always feel tired.
You wake up tired, you go to work tired, you spend time with your family tired, you go to bed tired, rinse and repeat. If you can’t wake up from a night of sleep feeling even a little bit rejuvenated (that is the whole point of sleeping), then something is probably amiss. Whether you’re not sleeping well due to stress, or whether you’re getting good sleep but your body just can’t catch up with your go-go-go lifestyle, feeling constantly tired is one of your body’s ways of telling something is wrong.
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You’ve stopped taking proper care of yourself.
Speaking of sleep, if you’re not getting enough, maybe you’ve over-committed yourself so you feel like you don’t have time to sleep? You stopped eating well? Maybe you haven’t given yourself enough time to make meals or grocery shop? Or maybe your brain is insisting it wants only the feel-good foods like pasta and chocolate because it’s so stressed out! If you’re not looking after your own personal health, ask yourself what’s stopping you.
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Your friends and family tell you they miss you.
Let me stop you right there and add that being in the same room as your loved ones but still doing work doesn’t count as quality time. I know, I’ve tried.
Your social network is a great system for letting you know how things are going. If you feel like you never see your friends anymore, it’s probably because you never see your friends anymore.
You’re always on the run.
When’s the last time you sat down and weren’t worried about what time you had to stand back up again? When’s the last time you only had one, maybe two places to be in one day?
Or does your life look like a manic city-wide Amazing Race running from one challenge to the next? If you’re life is an Amazing Race, you might be over-committed.
You’re afraid to stop.
“Yeah, I’ve heard it before. I know I should slow down…But I’ll never be able to catch up.”
I’ve said this to myself before. It’s a crappy feeling. And it’s scary. It’s scary to slow down for fear of losing control over your responsibilities, but it’s also scary to be in a place where you’ve lost control over your own time and wellness in such a way that stopping doesn’t feel like an option anymore. If you’re afraid of what might happen if you slow down, you might be stressed and over-committed.
One of the biggest life lessons I’ve been learning about and trying to apply to my own life in the past few years is balance. And to me, balance can do a lot in helping over-stress and over-commitment.
But stress and commitment and balance and imbalance look different for everybody. What makes one person feel stressed out might be a good adrenaline rush for another. I suggest you take time to get to know yourself so you can recognize where your line is for what’s a busy life and what’s a stressed-out one.
Thanks for reading, friends!
Heather
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