There is so much emphasis on being productive 24/7 and ‘grinding’ all day every-day. I believe that being productive is an amazing thing, but it’s stressed too much and often-times leads to negative consequences such as: burnout, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed and even feeling inferior.
It’s okay to take a break.
Productivity/hustle culture
Before I begin talking about productivity culture, I just want to say that its intentions are great, but it’s being over emphasized to the point where it becomes unhealthy.
There are countless YouTube videos and books about being productive and how you can be even more productive and how it can improve your life. While this is all true, I believe it’s gotten to a point where people feel that when they take a break, they consider themselves to be lazy.
People have begun working/studying for 12+ hours a day and end up draining themselves in order to be ‘productive’. But is that really necessary? Probably not. Especially because overworking your mind and body will eventually lead to burnout and giving up all together.
There’s a difference between studying/working on something that genuinely brings you joy vs. studying/working because you feel like you have to.
Self-help books
For some reason, I’ve always had a bad impression on self-help books and I never knew why. Maybe it’s because they all say the same exact thing, but in different ways.
I’ve read between 2-3 self-help books and here are the main-points they all make:
- be present
- do things that make you happy
- change your mindset
- do some form of meditation
- wake up early
- eat healthy and move your body
There you go; no need to buy the next self-help book! This is pretty much what most self-help books say in order for you to be happier and improve your life.
The truth is, we don’t need a book to tell us these things. We already know the answers most of our problems, we just want to find an easy and quick solution.
Ways to relax
If you find that you’re in the cycle of over working yourself, it can be hard to accept the idea of taking a break. Here are a few things you can do to help you relax.
- hangout with friends
- call someone up that you haven’t talked to in a while
- hangout with friends from work
- if you don’t have friends, go out and make some
- read (for fun)
- not everything you read needs to be educational
- watch YouTube videos/movies/t.v. shows
- go outside
- it’s important to physically get away from your work area. If you work from home, go somewhere else for a few hours or at least go in a room where your desk isn’t set up
Wrap-up
As a model, I find myself getting wrapped up in trying to be productive all the time, because I don’t work every-day of the week and I end up feeling very lazy. So, I attempt to fill this time by studying, reading, signing up for classes, etc.
Taking a break from any type of work is necessary. Especially if your work requires energy either physically or mentally; if you’re constantly working you won’t be able to put forth as much energy as you would be able to if you gave yourself a break.
Despite what some people might say, relaxing doesn’t make you lazy or un-productive – as long as you don’t take it to the point where that’s all you do!
*Feel free to leave any comments or questions down below so I can answer them for you!*
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