I don’t know what everyone’s idea of hard work is but doing your best is not overworking yourself. Putting pressure on ourselves is one thing we need to control so it doesn’t become a toxic attitude.
I know it’s confusing. You’re probably thinking “If I don’t put pressure on myself at all, isn’t that bad?”. “Now she’s saying to not put pressure on myself? What is this?”.
The key is to find balance, actually. Knowing that you have to pressure yourself sometimes does not mean you have to pressure yourself all the time. Sometimes, rest!
I read posts about how people overwork and tag it as doing their best. Or how successful people encourage their followers on social media to always put pressure on themselves because that is when they’re doing their best.
It gets so confusing that people experience burnout and they’d still think they’re trying to be lazy or they’re overreacting. I think understanding yourself is key to getting or achieving basic mental health.
We need to realize that spending longer hours doesn’t means more work. Overworking yourself can make it look like you’re being passionate or dedicated but it just probably will tire you out, faster than when you actually are doing your best.
It’s not magic that overworking yourself will invite stress. Unnecessary one at that. Stress can lead you to develop bad habits. Not only related to mental health but physical. Our social activities can also be altered when we overwork ourselves.
When you feel that strain in your head or body, that’s the time to rest. You don’t even necessarily need to feel any strain. Work? Study? Anything that it may be, taking a break for a little or even a long while won’t change a lot.
It would not then be surprised when you finish a task within a few minutes as opposed to the numerous hours you’d spend if you overwork yourself.
