Perpetually tired? It’s okay to take a break

You may have noticed it’s been about three months since my last blog post. This is, in fact, my first for the year. What happened to my amazing scheduling, ideas on the perspective of time,  enthusiastic life administration, and all that jazz?! Well, I’ve been tired. I don’t know if this is just a perpetual state of affairs post-40, or if I need to get more sleep or vitamins or whatever, but the truth of the matter is my energy has been low, and I’ve not had the motivation to do much of anything. No book editing, no gardening, no blog posts, nothing much at all except house work and playing video games.

Coming off the Christmas/New Year period, I gave myself leave to slow down a bit and just chill out (which is an important thing to do), but then I started a new job soon after. The job is full-time – which I’ve not done for over a year – and it’s super busy, with lots of new information to take in, and people/personalities to deal with. I expected there to be an adjustment period, but right now I’m emotionally a bit exhausted and this feeling of being perpetually tired sucks. Can you relate?

Today I’ve been pondering this sorry state of affairs, and despite my guilty creativity conscience, have come to the conclusion that it’s actually okay. We do so much. All the time! Work, study, family, friends, hobbies, housework, gardening, hobbies – that’s a huge investment. Whilst I believe you can make more time, in truth it does take effort and planning, and maybe right now, your energy levels are low enough that you really can’t face sitting down and organising your life.

I wanted to write this post tonight* and just take a moment to say this to you (and myself!): if you are struggling with being productive, with doing all the things, with getting even the basics done – it’s okay. You don’t have to be on all the time. Have a rest. Take a break. That break could last a week, a month, or even a year. Take the time you need. Don’t feel bad for taking care of yourself.

When you are ready to come out of it, you’ll know. There will be a moment where you feel like you are getting a handle on things again, and then off you go. Tell me about it when you do. I’m here to encourage you, and I hope you can encourage me too. We’ve got this!

 

*This blog post took me an hour to write because I’m so tired, I struggled to put words together. How’s that for irony!