Are You Overworking Yourself? Is the COVID-19 crisis making you work harder because of fear of losing your job?
Many of us grew up thinking that hard work equals success. That we need to hustle and work as hard as possible in order to “make it.” Now, with the reality of working from home kids around AND the fear of job security is amplifying the need to work harder.
And your reality may prove this idea to be true. You’ve achieved some level of success, you’ve gathered the accolades, you’ve accomplished many things in your career.
But if you’re really honest with yourself, you’re starting to feel like you’re always working too hard. Maybe you feel like you have to keep working hard or you’ll lose it all. Or maybe you feel like no one else will do things as well as you can.
I’m no stranger to this. I worked hard for many, many years. I earned my degrees and started my practice all in a few short years, and then I burned out.
Signs You’re Overworking Yourself
Are you headed for burnout? Here are some signs that you might be working too hard:
- You have a hard time relaxing.
- You feel like you just don’t have enough time.
- You feel like you have more and more to do.
- Your health is starting to suffer.
That last point is especially scary. In fact, studies have shown that work-related stress may contribute to over 120,000 deaths each year.
I’m here to teach you that there’s a better way. By healing your relationship to working hard, and then tapping into your inner wisdom, you can work smarter, not harder.
What do I mean by this?
When you feel exhausted, I want to encourage you to start by asking yourself what the drive is behind the need to do more and keep on giving? Because that’s really what we’re doing when we’re overworking ourselves. We’re giving more than we really need to.
Ask yourself:
- What am I trying to prove by doing it all?
- Who am I trying to prove this to?
- How did I conclude that overworking is the answer?
Take some time to really think about these questions. Do some journaling and free writing on them. If needed, take some time to meditate on these questions too.
When you can get to the bottom of why you feel like you have to work so hard, then you start to see that there’s a deeper reason to the need to hustle, and that you don’t really need to be doing it. Then you can make conscious decisions about when and where you spend your time and energy.
Many of us work hard, pushing ourselves to work harder and be better. But it’s actually not good for our physical or our mental health. Instead, spend some time understanding your underlying drive to work so hard, and find a better way to accomplish what you need to.
When this crisis is over, which it will, you will be in a better place, with better skills. Treat this as an opportunity to clear the old cobwebs of beliefs that are no longer serving you. The life you desire IS possible without the hustle.
The bottom line is that when you can change your beliefs, your life will transform inside and outside. You may not have a choice on what’s happening around you, BUT you have a choice on how to deal with it internally. What will you choose?
Share your thoughts in the comments or tag me on instagram
Xo,
