There is so much pressure to work ourselves to the point of unhappiness, and even worse, exhaustion.

I am one of those who tend to make ourselves victims of the latter. And the crash is brutal.

I guess I haven’t figured out the moderation thing yet.

I’ve been stuck in the grind-crash-grind-crash cycle for far too long, and it’s been taking a toll on me. I’ve been doing so much and spreading myself too thin, to the point of burnout. It’s just not sustainable.

It took a vacation, to step away from the grind, to realize this. And it’s so obvious, I don’t even know why I’m shocked.

So the goal for the rest of this week, before I get back to streaming regularly on Twitch, is to plan out a content schedule I can keep up with, without feeling too much pressure. If I set short term goals to work toward, I’ll be less likely to succumb to analysis paralysis in the everyday struggle to come up with something new, then have to rush to catch up, and then my content suffers and I feel overworked, exhausted, etc.

No more of this mess!

I’m also hoping this kind of organization will carry over into other areas of my life. I need to simplify several other habits I have.

And just like how I need to schedule my work, I also need to schedule time for myself. I need to plan days off [mostly off]. I need to plan more vacations [when possible]. I need to plan set times for self care rituals. Because all of these things are more important than I’ve been acknowledging to myself.

I titled this post wrong.

Saying “it’s okay to take a break” implies that it’s something like an act of weakness, like it’s something you only do when you’re tired.

And it’s also very telling of the mindset I’m working to change.

Instead, I should be saying, “it’s good to take breaks,” because it’s part of a self care routine I need to keep me strong, happy and productive.

There is nothing shameful about that.

It’s good to take breaks.