How slowing down & taking time off can change everything / Signs you need to take a break

As I’m sitting here writing this, it’s been about 6 weeks since I have written a blog post. I had a goal to start publishing at least 1 blog post per week and for the most part, I have been able to stick with that goal. If you’ve been following my blog for at least the last couple of months, you might’ve noticed that I try to publish a new post every Tuesday.

However, after I got back from my vacation about 6 weeks ago, I realized that I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to deliver high quality blog posts & content for my audience. Not just blog posts & content, but how I show up actively in my business everyday. I was turning my business into something that was living off of stress and pressure. Which is exactly what I preach NOT to do. When I experienced what it was like to not feel so much pressure, I realized that I needed to make some real changes when I got back.

While it’s frustrating, this is a part of the process. Everything in life is trial & error. You learn as you go so you can adjust as needed. It can be frustrating in the moment, but it’s very important to be able to listen & learn from these experiences.

I realized that I really needed to take a step back and reevaluate my approach to this business & the information that I provide you within this blog. So, I decided to take a hiatus from being active in my business, including writing blog posts until I felt like I was clear minded enough. So, for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been revisiting & rearranging my business plan.

I know that I’m not the only one who gets really caught up in the hustle of everyday life. As someone who lives for a balanced lifestyle, I don’t think that it is necessary to live based on high-stress and pressure. I tend to crumble under stress & pressure so I really try my best to avoid it. 

If you are reading this post, chances are that you are feeling like you are crumbling under the pressure and need some guidance to getting back on track and start moving forward again. You are feeling like you have run into a wall and need some tips for moving forward. 

In this post, I want to talk about some signs that it’s time for you to take a break & why it can be the best thing you can do for yourself & your situation.

Related: Getting Over Extreme Burnout, 5 Steps For Getting Back On Track & Shifting Your Mindset, Tips For When You’re Not Feeling Motivated, What I learned from unplugging, How to start feeling like you are in control of your life

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SIGNS YOU NEED TO TAKE A BREAK

YOU ARE CONSTANTLY FEELING UNMOTIVATED.

Probably the most frustrating of all the warnings signs that you need to take a break is the lack of motivation. You have a list of things that you need to get done but you are having such a hard time just getting yourself to do them. Even things that you usually enjoy doing. Everything you try to do isn’t working.

YOU ARE CONSTANTLY FEELING TIRED & DRAINED.

You know that feeling when you just really energetically feel like you just want to lay around in bed all day? Yeah, that’s a major sign that you need to take a break. Your mind & body will literally tell you what you need and if you feel like you need to lay around and rest all the time, chances are your either your mind or body (or both) need you to slow down.

YOU ARE GETTING CREATIVE BLOCKS.

When you sit down to work on something, you can’t come up with anything. Things that usually help you get those creative juices flowing are having you run into a never ending wall. Which, typically makes you feel even more frustrated, unmotivated & just TIRED.

YOU ARE GETTING IRRITATED EASILY.

When someone asks for you to do something, you immediately get frustrated. You don’t feel like doing anything and you really don’t feel like doing anything for other people. You are just feeling D O N E.

YOU KEEP MAKING EXCUSES TO NEGLECT YOUR SELF CARE.

I say this often and I will keep saying this again: self care is SO important. Usually, it’s the very first thing that gets put on the back burner because it seems like it’s not as important. However, neglecting your self care will only make you feel even worse and make you go even further down the dark hole.
Related: Developing a self care routine that works for you

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Now that I’m sitting here thinking about it and writing about it, I was experiencing all of those things listed above. That’s why when I got back from my vacation & was clear minded, I realized that I needed to take a step back & reevaluate. I will lay out what I learned from taking a break & if you can relate, I think you might be ready to take a break as well.

Related: How to improve your mindset

WHAT I LEARNED FROM ALLOWING MYSELF TO TAKE A BREAK

I WAS PUTTING TOO MUCH PRESSURE ON MYSELF TO GET EVERYTHING DONE.

When we get into the hustle of life, especially work, it’s really easy to get stuck in the hustle without even realizing the consequences in the moment. I was focusing on trying to do too many things at once. What I had to come to realize is that I was focused on getting to my end goal in this business and that was putting unnecessary stress & pressure on myself. I was getting into the habit of getting an idea & going full force into that idea until I started feeling stressed & burnt out. I kept losing the passion to keep working on this business. Which, is the last thing that I want because I am truly so passionate about everything that I’m doing in my business.

I WAS TOO FOCUSED ON THE HUSTLE & NOT ENOUGH ON SELF CARE.

I know for a fact that a lot of people get stuck here as well. Self care is always the number one thing that gets put on the back burner when we start getting busy. It start becoming the “when/if I have time” thing that typically just ends up getting neglected. Then, when we do try to practice self care, it becomes just another item on the to-do list that gets rushed through.

What’s important to understand is that there’s great importance in self care. When neglected, it can result in some pretty not-so-pretty things. At some point, life will make you slow down and start forcing you to focus on self care. 

For example, you’ll get sick and HAVE to miss work. 

So, I started thinking, “What if I started making self care the top priority then getting work done is secondary?” Sounds counterintuitive, right? But what’s interesting is that it WORKED. When I focused on myself and making sure that my mental health & overall needs are taken care of, things started falling into place. 

• Ideas started flowing to me
• I started gaining business clarity

What is interesting is that every time I shift my focus to myself & on my self-care, that’s when things always start falling into place & making sense. 

So, if you are finding yourself in a similar situation. You are just feeling like you are overwhelmed. Like things are just at a standstill and you’re just running into a wall no matter how hard you are working- FOCUS ON SELF CARE.

Make sure you get your hands on my Self Care Planning Worksheet!
Click here for more info. <3

I NEED TO INCLUDE REFLECTIONS & INTENTION SETTING IN MY STRATEGY.

Along with self care, the next thing that always…ALLLWAYYSSSS gets the back burner even though it’s sooo important is reflections & intention setting. It always gets put on the back burner because I come up with reasons like:

• There’s content that needs planned!
• I need to write a blog post!
• I need to put together a resource, even though I don’t really know what people need right now!

What I had to come to understand is that I was not functioning based off of strategy, but rather on things that I thought that I HAD to be doing. But, just like self care, if you neglect the things that are actually going to be helpful in moving forward, you are going to continue to remain stuck. Remaining stuck will eventually lead you to feeling completely stressed out, burnt out & overwhelmed. 

So, I started implementing a strategy where the last week of every month, I sit down and do a reflection of the month & set intentions that I want to focus on for the upcoming month. I am all about easing into habits, so eventually I want to get myself to do weekly reflections, but I think monthly reflections is a good start! Click here to learn about the 4 questions I ask myself at the end of every month!

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Trust me, I know that taking a break can seem extremely daunting. It can feel like if you take a break, that everything will stop and all of your hard work is going to go into the trash. But, nothing productive ever comes from feeling overwhelmed. You HAVE TO take care of yourself first! Allow yourself to take a break, it might be the best thing you can do for yourself right now. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later. <3

I do offer 1:1 Mindset & Confidence Coaching and invite you to check out my opportunities if that is something that you would be interested in. Click here for more information on my 1:1 coaching opportunities! <3

Related: How to know if it’s time to hire a life coach

>> click here to download my 5 tips for crushing your goals
>> click here to download my self care planning worksheet
>> click here to download my 50 journal prompts for self reflection & self discovery

Xx,
Coach Jessie Shibko