I’ve mentioned a few times before that I’m a workaholic but basically all I did in 2020 was work and now I’m burnt out and don’t quite know how to fix it.
My company wants us to have work-life balance but we’ve grown so much in the past few years that it just doesn’t feel possible anymore. In order to keep up with the demand we are all working long hours and I don’t see an end in sight. I love the company I work for and the team I’m on but I’m so tired every day and I really just want to be able to take a lunch break or a vacation day without feeling guilty.
In general I’ve been questioning work-life balance. I haven’t been sleeping well because I have anxiety dreams about work and I can’t shut them off. I’m worried about my to-do list, I’m worried I’m missing an e-mail because there are too many, I’m worried about training others while trying to learn new things myself. I’m worried that I will burn out for real before I even turn 30.
2021 has to be the year that I figure this out. I need to take all my vacation days without feeling guilty. I need to have a normal amount of responsibilities. I need to put my mental health first. And most of all, I need to work normal hours because working this much is not healthy.
In 2019 I wrote a post about how my dream job was no longer a specific job. Instead it was a team, my team. I still love my team SO much but I don’t know if it’s enough anymore. 2019 was the best year of work for me. I was in a great place but 2020 changed everything and I don’t know how to go back.
Have you been able to make work-life balance? How do you put your needs first?
Photo by Kevin Bhagat on Unsplash
Life of Hayley 
I think it’s amazing that you have such a great work ethic, it’s wonderful that you are passionate and that you care, but of course your mental health and your YOU time is so important. Work is great and if you enjoy your career as I hope we all do, then that’s a wonderful part of life however, it’s not the only part of life. You have vacation days for a reason, and the way I always see it is, the more you take care of yourself the more you take care of the world. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so rather than feeling guilty when you take a vacation day, see it as a wonderful thing because you are taking care of yourself and enjoying your life, therefore, when you go back to work, you are going to be radiating even more happiness and feeling much more healthier and happy to do your best work!!! It’s a win win all round. You will get there my love but remember self care is important and I believe, looking after ourselves is key. Enjoy your life my darling, it’s what you are here for ❤
LikeLike
You’re the best and this is exactly what I needed to hear! You’re right that my cup is empty right now so I have no more to give. I have some vacation days coming up at the end of February and I’m really looking forward to being able to unplug for a few days. In the meantime, I will try to only work my scheduled hours and not let the rest of the issues bother me.
LikeLike
Work-life balance is a tough one! If we are seen to be off work even though we have leave built up you still guilty but working day in day out without a break also isn’t healthy. I think technology makes us feel like we always have to be connected or we’ll miss out on something when if we took away technology we would have so much more free time which some people wouldn’t know how to fill which is sad. You do have to look after yourself and sometimes we go through a blip and lose our way temporarily, perhaps that’s what’s happened here. Your happiness is most important at the end of the day!
LikeLike
It is very tough and it seems to be something that most people struggle with these days! I’m still working from home so that doesn’t help either because it’s just so easy to keep working. It’s important to take breaks and use our vacation days though. We aren’t meant to work constantly and be this stressed all of the time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel like the stress comes in phases too, you’ll go through periods where you’re on top of everything and stuff is good and then everything gets too much and it’s hard to focus and prioritise.
LikeLike
Work life balance is really a struggle. No matter how much I like my job though, I know that if something happened to me then I would be replaced within the next few weeks without much of
a care. We have to work to live, not live to work.
LikeLike
Exactly! It’s hard to remember that we are all replaceable in our jobs. I need to start remembering that more often.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is such a struggle for me too! It is so hard working from home because you cannot physically separate your work and life.. so how can you help but let work creep into every moment? For me, I know it also has a lot to do with my background and valuing career/achievement so much. I need to be able to see my self-worth as not just tied to my job… good luck this year with your work-life balance 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you so much for sharing! It is really hard to separate work from your personal life when working from home. I didn’t think it would be this hard! I’m also trying to separate my self worth from my job. Being a high achiever makes it hard to do that for sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
73hr weeks at the moment and struggling to maintain a home a relationship and the size of my backside! It’s nice to finally hear someone say…enjoy that time off 🙌🏻
LikeLike