Do You Need To Do Less?

If you are tired or close to burnout, this might be just what you need. Do less of everything, but do it smarter.

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

Many people answer the question, “How are you?” with “Busy, tired”.

Why Are We Tired All The Time?

Overworked? Maybe. Overstimulated? Certainly. Unfit? Possibly.

In a world that values productivity, still promotes the idea of having it all and making it look picture-perfect whilst providing entertainment 24/7, how can we not feel tired?

We seem to get our self-worth by the length of our to-do list, even when we feel exhausted and stressed.

Social media and other forms of entertainment swallow up our leisure time and we might be so hooked that we delay our bedtime.

News is constantly breaking and presented in the most dramatic way which might drain you emotionally. Our mental and emotional fatigue feels a lot more difficult to process than the physical one and it often sends us to activities that numb our discomfort through abusive consumption of food, alcohol, prescription drugs, games, social media or streaming.

Causes of fatigue build up until we are completely overwhelmed. We just want to get off the hamster wheel, but the odds are stacked against us. We find it difficult to break the pattern and escape. At some point, we might become so exhausted that we might grow resentful or lose hope that it will ever change and that might turn into burnout.

“I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal. A day when one has not pushed oneself to the limit seems a damaged, damaging day, a sinful day. Not so! The most valuable thing one can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room.”

— May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude

We long for a real, deep rest, maybe sipping a cocktail on an exotic beach or napping in a hammock, but we don’t want to appear to be lazy either.

However, going from busy to doing nothing is not the definition of balance. It’s not a healthy way to live either. We need to find balance in everyday life, but most…