5 signs you need to take a break

1. You’re constantly tired.

Even though you slept for hours each night for the past week, you’re still tired when you get out of bed in the morning. There’s nothing else you’d rather to than just go back to sleep. You think about all the work from the minute you get up until you’re going back to sleep in the evening and you imagine it piling up because you feel like you’re not energized enough to deal with all of it. Taking a break doesn’t seem like the best solution because “the work is just too much at the moment”.

2. You can’t seem to focus.

You seem to forget the tiniest things and even getting groceries gets harder and harder. You need to write everything down because chances are you will stand people up because you simply forgot that you promised to meet up with them.

You’re constantly pacing around like a headless chicken wondering what it was that you were going to do now. Your mind is not at peace and it doesn’t take up the useful information because it’s too full with all the things you put yourself up with along with the pressure you put on yourself.

3. Your breaks are a lie.

You take breaks every now and then but let’s be honest, they’re a lie. You keep checking your phone, your emails, your checking account. You think about work and what you’re going to do as soon as your break is over. This is not a break. You’re still giving your body and mind stress. If this is your idea of a break, you’d better just work. In that case you won’t feel the guilt you’re putting yourself up with for not working.

The best thing though, would be to turn off your devices, make sure your to do’s for the day are done, and lay on the couch with a good book, a cup of coffee and zone out for a while.

4. You’re feeling sad a lot more.

How about the times that you’re telling yourself that you’re a nobody, that you’ll never reach any goal in life, that you’re a failure, that you can’t seem to work at the same pace someone else does and so on? How about the feeling of being totally drained after a day at work? Call it a downward spiral because the only thing you’re doing is putting negative pressure on yourself to put even more effort into your work in order to achieve more. The thing is, that’s not the way to do it.

5. You don’t enjoy your hobbies anymore.

You can’t enjoy your days anymore, not even if they are filled with things and happenings that used to make you feel happy. You go on with your work and the stress slowly fills up all the places in your body where happiness once was. You’re longing for a vacation, to read a book, to love doing what you once loved so much, but you just keep telling yourself that you need to work in order to achieve your goals.

It’s important to take a break once in a while and really, truly enjoy it. It’s important to log off your devices and BE with yourself in order to give yourself a break from everything and recharge from your daily stress.

Be kind to yourself.

Xoxo

Prudence