The fast paced world we live in is great, we have information available to us everywhere and there are opportunities lying around when you’re super busy. But there are also so many negatives to this fast paced world. Recently I have noticed that so everyone around me is always busy, whereas my life just does not feel that busy anymore… And with that came a feeling of guilt. I started doubting myself: am I putting enough energy into life? Or am I just lazy? Why am I not as busy as other people seem?

These are all questions that were popping up inside of my head and have dwelled on me these past couple of weeks. Sure I am busy too, just not as busy as some other people in the world. But do I want to be constantly busy? To feel stressed and rushing from one task to the other? Is it really that bad to not be busy all the time in a fast paced world where we are all constantly busy? Is it really that bad to just do nothing from time to time?

I have done a lot of thinking and have actually spoken about this to my friend from uni. She decided to take a break from university for a year because everything just became too much for her. She felt stressed, overwhelmed and was super close to experiencing a burnout, something I can definitely relate to. We were both living on autopilot. We were just surviving day by day, basically hanging on by a thread. And as soon as the New Year hits, we both separately decided to stop being so busy all the time.

You put things into perspective

One of the most important things I have learnt in these past few months is a new perspective. If you’re not busy and have a break, you have time to think. Some people love to be busy and feel the adrenaline of being rushed or stressed. I now know that it’s something I don’t cope well with and will eventually have an impact on both my physical and mental health. Not being so busy anymore can really help you put things and life in perspective. I had this conversation with my friend just the other week: what brings you more gratitude or what makes you happier? Some people enjoy being super busy and earning a shit load of money to work themselves to the top. Some enjoy taking their work home and to work late at night. That’s not something I can personally do myself. I physical and mentally can’t do it and would much rather spend my time doing something I love to put my energy into while also being able to spend time doing things I enjoy in my downtime. This is something I have put into perspective myself and has really made me more mature now.

Take a break, you need it

Another important thing I have learnt is to listen to your body. Don’t take on too much stress and try to avoid it as much as possible. If it’s unavoidable, then you need to plan breaks into your diary because you are not going to last without those breaks. You need them. Your body needs those breaks to recharge its self. Your mind needs those breaks to reflect and process things.

I have mentioned this quite a lot on my blog these past months. Last year was not an enjoyable year for me. I felt a lot of stress and pressure and had a hard time juggling my dissertation, my blog, other uni projects and getting some sort of income. I was exhausted the majority of 2018 and started living on autopilot. I was trying to survive my days and felt bad if I took a break. It was only back in January when I handed in my dissertation, I noticed how much of an impact 2018 had on my body and mind. The stress was only just then starting to have physically and mentally affect me. I had a really painful and sore back, headaches and I had really painful teeth because I was gnashing my teeth really badly at night and started closing myself off from family and friends.

Not being busy makes you grateful

It doesn’t matter how busy or stressed you are, if you are one or both of those things, it is incredibly hard to also be grateful for the things you have. Because you start living on autopilot and are trying to survive the day, it becomes incredibly difficult to have positive thoughts and to feel grateful for things. Gratitude is so important in having a happy and positive life and I honestly think more people should take a break to write down what they were grateful for on a day to day basis.

I honestly feel like taking January and February off of uni to take a break and to be me again has made me feel happy again. It also made me feel a lot more grateful. I am even grateful for those days I did nothing but watch some sort of sinister murder documentary on Netflix, I just felt grateful for not being busy, stressed or for not having headaches.

Switching off isn’t a bad thing

Let’s get real now. Switching off or taking down time or not being busy is not something to feel guilty about. You are not lazy and you should not compare your life to others. Switching off isn’t a bad thing, it’s time to work on yourself. Not being busy in January and February has helped me recharge my battery. It’s the time you need to heal or recharge yourself, to put things into perspective. But most importantly: It makes you more appreciative of the things you have in life: your achievements, your friends and family or just being able to binge watch a Netflix documentary in one day without feeling guilty. You have a right to switch off and take a break so don’t you ever feel bad about it.