These last few months feel like they have been non-stop. Contract work, workshops, family visiting and day-to-day 
chores had me feeling like there was never going to be enough hours in a day to get things done. I was burning the midnight oil on almost a nightly basis and it began to take a toll on my emotional and mental state. Sound familiar?
Of course we’ve all been there at some point or another. This isn’t one of those things that are specific to a particular occupation, gender or age. Burn-out is real and we have to make sure we take of ourselves, especially when it feels like we don’t have the time!
How do we give ourselves permission to take a break? For me, I think the biggest realization I had to come to was that if I didn’t give myself a chance to recharge, I was never going to be able to give whatever I was working on 100% of my effort. I’m sure we’ve all been so exhausted that nothing makes sense and everything seems more challenging that it did when you first started. Knowledge isn’t falling out of your brain – you’re just tired!
This blog post is a day late (but not a dollar short 😉 ). I will be sending out this week’s email blast late as well. Yes, it was a bit of a challenge not to beat myself up about not making my self-imposed deadlines, but I knew that it was necessary. My brain needed rest and I decided to take the long-weekend to give it just that. Is it the end of the world that you didn’t get to read this post yesterday instead of today? Probably not (and if it was, I do apologize!).
Often times we’re the ones who put the pressure on ourselves. We think that we have to get it all done and that it should have been done yesterday. Give yourself a break. It’s time to stop acting like martyrs, give you mind, body and soul the rest it needs. Ask for help and accept help when it is offered! Regardless of what your goals, dreams and aspirations are, you can’t do it on your own. Surround yourself with a positive support system and use them. That’s what they are there for and you know that when they need you, you’ll be able to assist them as well.
I’m going to create a schedule for down-time. Right now, I think that’s what I need in order to get things done, and get the downtime needed to be at my best. What are you going to do to give yourself a well-needed and well-deserved break? ♥