How to avoid extreme fatigue
Most of us live lives filled with obligations and activities. As a result, it’s easy to get lost in the soup and become overwhelmed with exhaustion from the constant activity. Slowing down and taking the time to recoup and gather our thoughts is essential if we want to avoid extreme fatigue, chronic stress, and burnout.
What happens when we don’t slow down?
A hurried life operates similarly to burning a candle at both ends. At some point, you will burn out from both stress and exhaustion. Before we reach the burnout point, there should be regularly scheduled interludes where we rest and relax instead of running around furiously like a hamster on a wheel. If we are parents or caretakers of older family members we may have to be creative in how and when we take our breaks, however, we absolutely need to take them. Furthermore, they should be scheduled long before exhaustion gets the opportunity to set in.
Getting Creative with Breaks
We all come from a wide variety of different professions and life obligations. This is why creativity and personalization are so important when it comes to scheduling breaks for ourselves. If you’re a busy professor at a university actively involved in neuroscience curriculum development you may not have a lot of time. However, you may be able to schedule breaks for yourself daily or every few days to avoid information overload. This may require that some of your breaks occur at work or wherever it’s most convenient. Flexibility becomes essential when you’re extremely busy and limited in terms of time and resources.
The Benefits are Many
Once you slow down amazing things begin to happen. Perhaps the first amazing thing to take place is your ability to see things more clearly. The extreme business can leave a cloud of confusion over our heads making it difficult to see our lives distinctly. The first thing we gain is perspective. The clarity that comes from clear unstressed thinking is invaluable.
It may be difficult to break the habit of being in constant motion but it’s an absolute necessity if we want to fully regain a happy and stress-free life. Taking the time to slow down and rest allows us to be more effective, happy, and clear-thinking in our approach to life. When we fail to take this much-needed time we burn out. This is why it must be done even if we have to be creative.
