#1-Working is essential, but…
In the morning, when I have my coffee in front of the window, I look at the birds, who seem to laugh at me.
They look at me like the joggers who pass in front of the gym gallery while I run on the treadmill and become part of the shop window — and without being paid for it.
And it’s normal for the birds and the runners to laugh at me because my day goes from cage to cage.
I get up in my cage house, get into my cage car, and go to my cage office. Then I eat in my cage restaurant. I go back to my cage office. And from there to my cage gym.
I run on a treadmill while thinking how sad it is to spend my life going from cage to cage to get money to buy things to decorate my cages or get better cages.
And it’s a f*cked-up thought because I realize I’m on the verge of Burnout.
Thank goodness I remember these three things every time that happens to me — which I hope will help you — and get back to my center before I explode.
1-Working is essential, but…
Whenever I feel a pounding in my head and like I’m about to explode at work, I think of what an economics professor told me at university.
“Life is divided into three aspects: work, socialising and sleep. Work is the most important aspect, because if you don’t earn enough, you won’t sleep well, and you won’t be able to socialise properly. But it is not everything. Because if you don’t sleep you won’t perform properly, and if you don’t have time off you’ll end up burnt out”.
And he was right: free time matters because without it, productive time is just slave time.
Lesson: when you find yourself about to explode from overwork. Remember to set aside two to four hours a day for yourself. And don’t approach it as a whim; approach it as a necessity because if you don’t, you will cease to be productive.
2-75 years; don’t waste it.
I love Eddie Murphy, and he has a little speech in his movie Holy Man that goes like this,
“75 years, that’s how much time you get. If you’re lucky: 75 winters, 75 spring times, 75 summers, and 75 autumns. When you look at it like that is not a lot of time, isn’t it? Don’t waste them.”
the quote makes you realize that you have lived more years than you have left to live and are closer to the grave than to childhood. And that is why it is crucial to devote time to what is essential rather than what is urgent.
Work is urgent (it always will be), but living is essential, and living is spending time with your loved ones, traveling, loving, creating, and fulfilling yourself as a human being.
Lesson: don’t postpone the important for the urgent. Remember that everything you survive will one day become a memory, including your mother, father, partner, and everything you love. Make the most of it and honor it while you can; in doing so, you will avoid Burnout.
3-To concentrate, you have to de-concentrate 🙂
The heart expands and contracts to pump blood to the rest of the body.
It’s the same with breathing: you breathe in so you can breathe out, and vice versa.
It’s the same in life.
You need to escape from time to time so that everything flows.
Time and failures have shown me that nothing you do will be valuable if you don’t give yourself time to do nothing.
When we live like zombies, repeating daily without giving ourselves a break, we can only create more of the same.
We need perspective. And perspective is achieved by getting away from what we usually do.
That’s why it’s essential to get into a bit of trouble from time to time: surfing, going on holiday, skating at 40 🙂
Things that you obviously won’t live off but will make you return to work more relaxed and with a fresh mind.
Lesson: Sometimes, time wasted is time gained. Play video games, go rollerblading, go away for a weekend. Do different things; you must take your mind off things to refocus and be efficient in your work. Plus, you’ll be more creative.
A virtual hug
AG
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