Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash
Hello, Gen Y. How’s life?
Based on my observation, you seem to be under a bit of stress. And by bit, I mean A LOT of stress.
What gives?
We live in a world where we have instant access to EVERYTHING. We can order something from our phone, and pick it up or have it delivered exactly when we want it, without getting up off our ergonomic office chair.
We have more choices than our the previous generation had access to, but yet, we are stressed out, maxed out, and bouncing around trying to find our purpose.
We are more connected than ever, but as a society we are disconnected from each other. How many of you eat at a dining room table? Do you even have one?
How many hours are you using your smartphone each day? If you have an iBinky like me, turn on the Screen Time app. If you are in the Android camp, there’s apps to track your usage. You will be alarmed how much you’re on the phone.
Always connected, always doing things, full of energy and scheduling every minute of your day.
You’re on the highway to burnout.
Millennials are burning out at a rapid pace. You’re still early into adulthood, and you’re burning out before you hit 40.
Why?
Who told you that you had to go non-stop through your life? Mom? Dad? Uncle Joe? Who?
You think Hustle means going non stop.
hus·tle
verb
force (someone) to move hurriedly or unceremoniously in a specified direction.
"they hustled him into the back of a horse-drawn wagon"
obtain by forceful action or persuasion.
"the brothers headed to New York to try and hustle a record deal"
Why would you want to go through life “hurriedly”?
Hurried activity isn’t natural. It lacks flow and rhythm. It’s forced or persuaded. If you live your life in a hurried and forceful way, you will spend more energy than you need to, which is one of the key ingredients to burnout.
My recommendation to those that are constantly hustling and spending full energy doing too many things:
Find your off switch
Entrepreneur Magazine recently had an article about entrepreneurs scheduling their entire days. I’m a big fan of scheduling, but the key is to schedule off time (or downtime) in your day. Treat it like a meeting with your important boss, client, significant other, etc.
During that downtime, that includes putting down the iBinky. Listen to music, go for a walk outside (yes, outside, in nature), stare at the wall, look at a painting and admire the artwork, anything that allows you to just be.
My challenge for you today is to take a piece of paper, and draw a vertical line down the middle.
On the left side, write down the things you LOVE to do, that brings you great joy and happiness. Could be going to a favorite coffee shop or restaurant. Could be going to the movies, or a concert/sporting event. Be thorough and list as many things you can on the left side.
Now on the right side of the paper, write down the last time you did those things you love. I bet that many of you haven’t done a lot of those things in a while.
Next, pull out your calendar (whether or paper or electronic) and schedule some of those “love to do” items in the next couple of weeks.
Wash/Rinse/Repeat.
You need to schedule fun in your life, that doesn’t have anything to do with your business, your work, your cause, or your mission in life. Too often everything we do has a purpose or is assigned to our value system. You need to do things that energize you. Self-care 101.