Are You Living On Auto-Pilot? 5 Proven Ways to Get Back to the Lane of the Living

Hey, how are you doing today? Are you having a good day, or a not-so-good day? Have you stopped to take a break and take care of yourself?

We live in a fast-paced world, where results appear more important than the people working on achieving them. The internet is online 24/7, and some people struggle to get enough sleep in between their meetings across the globe.

I’m sure we have all heard somewhere that “we are replaceable.” If we don’t achieve, someone else can fill the job.

So we carry on.

We survive by shutting down; we go on autopilot to work, and slowly forget who we are.

We work long hours from home or at the office. We become drones, like worker bees who are only put on this earth to complete tasks.

It’s very easy to be swept away by the flow of work, with the goal of achieving big results from projects that take us away from ourselves, little by little.

Have you ever thought about the true consequences of ignoring the work / life balance?

I do. And those consequences are overwhelming.

I have seen colleagues work themselves into a state of illness. I am familiar with the way stress can erode both the body and the mind. Bad things happen to good-meaning people all the time, and it’s heartbreaking. For those of us who are working through any kind of trauma, it can be very hard to set and respect boundaries. We often leave self-care at the office door and repeat behaviors that do not serve us. And since we want to be industrious and helpful, we can easily get lost.

As much as I love my work, it doesn’t define me. I am so much more than my job title.

Here are five proven ways that I have used to break away from the worker bee mindset. They have helped me “return to myself.”

1. Have a comfort break. Go get a cup of coffee, and take an extra minute to gather your thoughts. This gives us a pause to check in with ourselves and find clarity.
2.  Block out short breaks in your calendar and mark them as Do Not Disturb. This will ensure that you can de-stress in between phone calls and client meetings.
3. Organize tasks and meetings in blocks, if you can, to manage your work day. This can also help prioritize.
4. Try get some fresh air during your work day. Go grab your lunch from a deli that is located a little further away from the office. That extra five-minute walk will invigorate you, and sometimes it is important to get some space from whatever you are working on.
5. Spend some quality time with your family (or close friends, supportive contacts) at the end of each day. They are your center, where you can be yourself and relax. If you can’t be in the same room, pick up the phone and connect.

Life is busy, and we get bombarded by stressors all around us. It’s easy to lose track of who we are when work heats up with project deadlines and results demands. If your job is eating up more of your life than you are willing to give, then take a look in the mirror.

Do you want to spend the rest of your life in the fast lane, pushing to always achieve, while your personal life is non-existent? What goals are you seeking, and who set them? Is all of your productivity actually pulling you backwards?

Only you can answer those questions.

As a trauma survivor, I believe that life is a gift to be lived fully–not just exist to work at someone else’s drum beat. Money is not everything. Life can be beautiful when we stop long enough to see it.

My name is Lizzy. I’m a trauma survivor, a wife, a mom, a teacher, and an author.

If you like reading my posts, then please follow me.

For more about me: www.elizabethwoodsauthor.com

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Photo by Andrés Dallimonti on Unsplash

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