On one of his recent podcasts Dr John Delony quoted Ian Simkins who said ‘If busyness is your drug then rest will feel like stress’.
This hit me like a brick to the back of the head.
Busyness used to be my drug and rest used to feel like stress.
I’ve always loved working since I started collecting glasses and cleaning ashtrays in our family pub aged eight.
I’ve always got a buzz from work and this buzz continued for about 30 years until my busy, hectic and stressful day job as an Analytical Chemist (and Lean Practitioner) wasn’t enough for me and in 2012 I took on the journey to be a travel photographer and blogger.
Adding another blog in 2017 and launching online courses in 2020 I was absolutely overfeeding my busyness habit.
My mind, body and soul were never going to sustain this forever and in April 2021 my mind, body and soul said enough and they shut down.
I burned out.
For those who haven’t experienced burnout it’s not a physical tiredness that can be fixed with rest. It’s an emotional and mental shutdown of the mind, body and soul. You are unable to think and unable to do anything. Even the simplest of everyday tasks feel like a mountain to climb.
In the following months I stopped all work outside of my day job, I stopped writing, I stopped social media, I stopped creating content and I removed myself from all online groups that I was a part of.
I still felt burnt out.
And so I further cleared my plate.
I stopped reading physical books, I stopped listening to audiobooks, I stopped listening to podcasts, I stopped watching YouTube videos, I unsubscribed from the many email lists I was subscribed to, I stopped all online courses that I was doing.
I still felt burnt out.
Then my attention turned to my day job. I was absolutely miserable in my day job. I had loved my job for many years and it brought me great joy but Covid had changed much of my role and I felt like I was just checking things off a to do list.
I was no longer using my brain or my skills and I was arguing with people more than I was supporting them.
I left my day job and only then realised how much of my life I had dedicated to work. In hindsight I also only then realised how much the habit of busyness had consumed my life.
And I still felt burnt out.
Since late 2021, I have dedicated my life to slowing down and eliminating the effects of burnout, to getting off the fast paced rollercoaster of life and enjoying a slower paced stroll with less highs, less lows and less dramatic turns.
This has not been easy, it’s not easy to slow down.
Naively I thought that when I left my day job (which took 50+ hours of my life every week) I thought my life would slow down and that it would happen almost like flicking a light switch.
That was not the case.
Yes I did have more time, much more time but slowing down wasn’t like flicking a light switch. Slowing down has been a slow, drawn out process of two steps forward and one step back!
I have had to work really hard at ensuring I don’t get back on that fast paced rollercoaster that no longer suits, supports or serves me.
No matter what type of lives we lead, our days get filled and if we don’t work at slowing down they become so full that we end up on the rollercoaster of life, at a speed that we don’t want to be travelling at!
Life has its way of keeping us busy and it can be very difficult to get away from the busyness of life especially if this busyness is your drug!
These days I am very slowly adding things I love back into my life, taking much care not to overload myself and lose myself in the busyness of life again.
Ironically my weekly email survived everything and I have consistently sent an email to my readers every week since I started over 4 years ago – I am so grateful to every single person who reads my emails and send me lovely replies.
💎 The drug of busyness is no longer a part of my life
💎 Rest no longer feels like stress
💎 Rest now feels like rest, proper rest
💎 Rest is now my preferred drug
- Is busyness your drug?
- Does rest feel like stress?
- Would you like rest to be your preferred drug?
I write a weekly email on all things positive change – if you want to join, download your free ebook The A-Z of Effective Change below and I’ll see you there.
Thanks for reading,
Siobhain
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