Hi everyone! This video is going
to be about overworking yourself
and how to get back on track,
lessen the stress of work, and
making time for the things you
enjoy without making excuses.
I'm sure many of us at one point
or another were working on a
project, perhaps for school, and
we felt rushed and had to get it
done as soon as possible and it
resulted in working overtime.
This usually resulted in one
feeling stressed, tired, and
perhaps even disconnected from
themselves, their friends, and
other activities they may enjoy.
Perhaps this was caused by us
procrastinating for so long,
which then results in feeling
ashamed of ourselves for not
getting it done sooner and
having more free time. Whatever
the case, I'm sure most of us
can relate to this. However,
what happens when one routinely
overworks themselves? Work
becomes an addiction for them
and they just cannot stop. All
they think about is work and
getting projects done. Yet,
they feel like they never get
anything done. They are
constantly working, and yet feel
unaccomplished and still have so
much work. Well, this is exactly
what I will be discussing
in this video, as well as my
personal example of when I
overworked myself at the end of
2014 to the middle of 2015. In
order to understand someone that
constantly overworks themselves,
especially if you are not one
that has experienced it for
any length of time, you have to
think about sacrificing all
your free time, relaxation time,
vacations, even time to do
things you love, perhaps spend
time with family and friends,
or reflect on your life and plan
for your future. This is what
an overworked person does. They
will put their work first, above
even their own health. They may
truly want to stop, but don't
know how. And the problem is
that they have deadline, and
they may not be able to make
them, even with the amount of
work they put into it. This is
often because of distractions.
All that work tends to make one
overwhelmed and even more
underproductive since there may
not be a schedule and seeing the
work pile up turns into constant
planning on how to tackle
the work and not actually
accomplishing the task at
hand. Personally, my overworking
issues starting coming into
play around September of 2014. I
began working so much on making
YouTube videos. And it's quite
easy to fall into that when you
work at home and don't make a
usual routine for yourself. At
the rate I was going, I could've
possibly gotten a whole year's
worth of videos planned in maybe
a month's time. But, the problem
was I began neglecting myself
and my own happiness. The
problem for me was that
I started to sacrifice my
relaxation time and time to
myself. My free time was
occupied working. I didn't have
any free time. I would
constantly think about work when
not working. I began to neglect
people in my life because of my
work. And worst of all, I
neglected myself. Some big signs
for me were physically,
mentally, and spiritually. My
muscles would ache. I am on the
computer a lot. This causes neck
and upper back tension. My
muscles were so tense that
I could hardly move them. Yet,
while most people may get up and
do some stretches, my work came
first. I ignored it and forced
myself to finish what I was
working on. I was like, "One
more minute." Which would
turn into hours sitting there. I
began to routinely do this which
resulted in days, weeks, and
months being passed without me
actually taking a break from my
work. It turned into me not even
wanting to think about doing
work, yet I was constantly
thinking about how I was going
to get it done, feeling
overwhelmed and ashamed of
myself for not getting it done.
As a result, I lost creativity
and meaning in my videos. At my
worst was from April to June of
2015. Most of my videos prior
to this were around 11 or 12
minutes. Yet, many of them
from this time were under that
duration. And, it was because I
had no motivation. I didn't want
to do anything long, or type
anything up, or work on anything
that would've made me do a lot
of work because I didn't have
the time and I didn't want to
put the effort into it. How I
use to do my videos was through
channeling, quite literally.
A majority of my videos are not
researched or anything. I don't
really look up information.
Rather, it's channeled directly
out into writing. I listen to
what my mind is telling me and I
write it down. A sentence would
just come to me about something,
and I would write that
down which could turn into a
paragraph and allow the other
creative ideas to start to flow
in my mind. This is how I did
some of my personal favorite
videos, which were actually fun
to do and not stressful or time
consuming at all as I would
often get them done maybe within
like an hour just typing up
everything. Well, in the process
of overworking myself, I lost
this. It was a struggle for me
to even think straight about
the topic at hand. I lost the
ability to have these
spontaneous ideas that just came
to me. And since that was gone,
there was no motivation since I
had to research the topic
and it was frustrating to even
understand it and it just didn't
stick in my mind. So, I would
spend days trying to get it done
which I could've gotten it done
so much sooner as I was during
my previous methods. Another
thing was meditations, sleep,
dreams, it was all gone. I got
less sleep, primarily because
I was so exhausted that I was
sleeping at random intervals
throughout the day to avoid my
work because I was frustrated
with it. But, it never felt
relaxing. Likewise, there were
really no dreams during this
period. I would always have
these vivid dreams that I really
enjoyed and they were gone. As
was meditations since I stopped
doing it because almost every
time I did it, I would fall
asleep which became frustrating.
I was so busy planning my days
at that point that it lead
to distractions. I would get
sidetracked and work on things,
or rather procrastinate. I would
constantly say, "I don't have
time to do this or that." An
excuse. Yet, I didn't have time
because I never had a schedule
as to what I should be doing.
When I finished a task, I was
like, "What now?" Or even worse,
would get sidetracked in the
middle of working on something
without any interest or
motivation in working on
anything at all. For instance,
whenever I would upload a new
video, I had to constantly check
the comments on it just to see
what people were saying. I would
be in the middle of something
and would stop to go check. It
couldn't wait, I had to do
it right then and there which
resulted in more distractions.
So, how do you get back on
track if you feel you are
overworking yourself?
I'll talk about that now.
In order to actually make the
time to do the things you enjoy,
you have to first recognize the
signs of overworking yourself.
This can come in many forms.
Some of the common ones are a
neglect for yourself and
your own happiness. If you find
yourself pushing away family and
friends so you can go and get
work done, that is a sign. As
is constantly thinking about
working. Perhaps you are away
from the job, and are constantly
thinking about the work you have
to do, even getting stressed out
about it. You may leave the
event or place you are, even if
it's with family or friends, so
you can go and do the work. You
may lose sleep, skip meals, and
not pay any attention to your
own health. Physical problems
can occur such as muscle aches,
extreme tiredness, and a variety
of other problems. If physical
problems come into play, like my
example with my neck and back,
then recognize that it's caused
by your work, and question the
pain. You can talk to it and
say, "Neck, why are you hurting
so much? Why are you causing me
this pain?" The answer will be
that it's your body's way of
telling you that you need a
break. When you have recognized
these, you then have to learn to
take a break when needed. For
me, it was when my body was
physically becoming tense.
So, I began to get up for a few
minutes, do some stretches,
clear my mind, let any
negativity go so I could be more
productive. Many times with a
busy schedule we think that we
don't have the time for a break.
Yet, it's the break that will
prevent us from overworking
ourselves. It will make it so we
can relax and get our thoughts
together to be more productive.
So technically, we could take a
break, get our work done, and
have even more time then if we
skipped the break altogether.
Instead of saying, "I don't have
the time," say, "I haven't made
the time." Because the truth is,
you can set out to do anything
if you make the time for it.
This includes things like
talking with other people. If
you are putting your work
first and you keep telling your
friends that you are too busy to
hang out, then you are choosing
your work over them, which is a
quick way to lose your friends.
What do you prioritize? If there
is always an excuse, it's not a
priority. But, if it is a
priority, you will do whatever
it takes to achieve it. This
brings us to the next point,
make a schedule. This is easy,
but sticking with it is where it
is difficult. The reason why
sticking with it is so difficult
is because it may lose its
appeal after a few days. We may
stick with it initially because
it's new, but then it becomes
old. It is easy to slip back
into old habits, but developing
new ones can be challenging. So,
you really have to do whatever
it takes to stick to this
schedule. Write it down perhaps
on a note and tape it to your
computer to remind yourself,
or wherever you are working.
You can set hours when you do
specific tasks, and add breaks
where necessary. When you become
distracted, learn to shift
your focus back to what you were
doing and tell yourself
that this distraction can wait
because there is time later
for it. The truth is, doing
something without a distraction
will be quicker than having all
these distractions. What I did
was make a schedule of specific
times where I would dedicate
time to the activities I wanted
to do. When the time was up, I
told myself I would continue it
at a later time or tomorrow. I
was strict with my schedule so
I didn't become distracted.
While I did lose focus from the
schedule after a week,
I recognized the signs of
overworking and did what was
best for my health. And lastly,
one of the most beneficial
things to do, at the end of the
day, reflect back on the day and
see what you accomplished and be
proud of what you accomplished.
Even if it was one little thing,
or nothing at all if you were
taking a break, be happy with
how your day went. This is where
a lot of people can go wrong
because at the end of the day
they may be thinking, "I didn't
get anything done today. I have
to do this and that tomorrow.
I have so much work. I should be
working right now and getting it
done." The problem with this
is that you are ending your day
negatively. You view what you
did, even if it just was one
thing, as being negative and
you are shaming yourself into
working harder. You will never
be able to accomplish this task
of working harder when the aim
is through shame. Personally, at
the end of the day I learned
to say to myself, "I feel
accomplished! I got what I
wanted to get done and tomorrow
will be another day of
accomplishments." Even if
I didn't get everything done
I wanted to, I knew I could
continue at a later time.
Instead of feeling ashamed of
myself for what I didn't get
done, I felt accomplished for
what I was able to get done.
All of this without overworking
myself. This was important since
I began to dedicate more time to
myself and my health. This was
important since I became more
productive and have had
more time to relax and
do other things.
So in conclusion, overworking
oneself can be an easy thing to
slip into, especially if you do
not have a schedule, and/or work
from home. But, ways of
getting on a schedule to be more
productive and make the time for
the things you want to do are to
recognize the signs of being
overworked, taking a break when
needed, and being proud of your
accomplishments for the day,
even if it was just a relaxation
day. Because you know what? You
deserve a break and relaxation
day every once in awhile. So,
view it as a positive thing
to get in touch with your true
goals and self. I hope this
video was informative and
helpful. Thanks for watching!