HOW TO KNOW IT’S TIME TO SLOWDOWN

Are the years flying by and the days melding into one long list of things and places to-do, to-go, and to-buy? Have low-level feelings of guilt and anxiety become your constant companions? It is never easy to take certain things off your plate, but you might be doing too much! Here are some warning signs you should no longer ignore that you need to have some fun!

Never relaxed

You no longer ever feel relaxed.  Even when you schedule in downtime, your mind is racing.  Its hard to focus on a conversation and you find yourself often not truly listening. It is tough being present when there is so much to stay on top of.

Recuperating is tough

You seem to be always falling sick these days and its harder to bounce back. You’re usually the first one in the family to go down with a cold, and the last one to recover. Your immunity can be compromised with stress, exhaustion and lack of sleep.

 Outbursts

You find yourself snapping more often, when before you used to have patience. Or on the flip side, things you could laugh off previously now hurt your feelings more deeply and make you teary-eyed. When we feel overwhelmed, it is harder to modulate our emotional cues and responses.

Sudden body changes

Your weight has started fluctuating, from stress eating or the opposite, missing meals. You have new aches and pains, like lower back pains from working too long in the same position or standing too many hours. You have muscle loss because you don’t have time for exercise.

You’re known as “too busy”

You start hearing people say oh you’re probably too busy for this or that. Your friends have stopped calling you for fun catch-up sessions or to confide in when they are going through something.  They can tell you are going through a lot.

Work is suffering

You notice more often than not lately that you dropping the ball, missing an important detail or making a mistake. It’s not that you became incompetent overnight, you just have too much on your plate these days and your mentally tired from functioning overtime!

 

There’s no better compass than our own body and emotions.  If any of these warnings sound familiar, you may be doing too much. It could be time to take what you can off your plate so you can start to have some fun again!

 

This article was first published on https://www.womenworking.com/profile/leena-roy/