𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.

𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭? Maybe it’s because of the way we’ve learned to always be working.

Picture this: it’s Monday morning, your phone buzzes with a work email even before you opened your laptop. You know you shouldn’t check it, but you do anyway almost without thinking.

Maybe someone close to you asks, “𝐶𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑥?” You want to, but it just doesn’t feel right.

A lot of these habits start when we’re young. Maybe you saw adults around you working all the time and hardly ever taking breaks. Maybe if you ever sat around, someone would tell you to “𝑔𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙.” After a while, you start to believe that 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.

A lot of people feel guilty when they try to rest. It feels weird or wrong not to be busy. But the truth is, rest actually helps you get more done.

Burning out isn’t a sign you care it just means you’re doing too much. So what can you do?

Think of rest as part of being productive.

Set clear times when you’re “off” and stick to them.

Remind yourself: nothing bad will happen if you take a break.

Do you struggle with this too? How do you handle it?