If you're anything like me, you have a tendency to take on far more work than you can personally handle. Whether it be school, work, volunteering, hobbies or all of the above (and more), there's only a certain amount of time in the day and you can only do so much.
Coming from someone who has almost always had a full school and work schedule (sometimes with more than one job), I can tell you with complete certainty that this is utterly damaging to your mental health. I can't tell you how many times I've had a mental breakdown because I was so stressed between school, going to work, working out, getting my volunteer hours in, and also getting enough sleep and time to myself. It seems impossible to get everything done sometimes, and I want so badly to do everything, but that's just not realistic. Sometimes it's necessary to just take some "me time", no matter how busy your schedule may seem.
And, let me tell you - taking time for yourself is probably one of the most important things there is, especially for your mental health.
You need time to breathe and relax.
I don't know what it is that causes some of us to be so wired that we feel the need to take on a plethora of activities, but it's not healthy. I know, you feel like you have to do all these things but it's more important to prioritize and just do what you can without over-working yourself.
There's a possibility that by being so over-worked you're not even getting as much done as you would if you took on fewer responsibilities because your brain is so scattered and stressed out that you're only half doing what needs to be done.
Moreover, "workplace stress contributes to at least 120,000 deaths annually," according to Scholar Joel Goh who Katherine Meikle quoted on PassportHealth. Don't be one of those people who work and then stress themselves out so much that you forget to see the beauty in the world anymore.
Going off that topic, people who are over-worked and on the verge of burnout tend to develop depression and anxiety (if you didn't have it before), and if you already suffered from these, it's sure to raise the severity of your illness. And that's not OK.
Take some time to step away from the responsibilities you feel like you have to do. Take a mental health day, go for a walk, or even just get a good, long sleep. But, don't let the stress turn you into someone that you're not. It'll be alright.
