How To Manage the Rollover Exhaustion from 2020
I don’t know about you, but I am already exhausted and January isn’t over yet!! This year has already felt like a lot; with the ongoing viral pandemic, the storming of the U.S. Capitol in D.C, and the constant hours we spend sitting in Zoom meetings/lectures. I still feel the same tiredness that I thought I was leaving behind, and I am struggling to make sense of it.
I took a moment to reflect over the weekend, and realized that I had not really had much time to rest and breathe last year. I imagine that this realization is not unique to me. So much happened throughout last year, often with very little time in-between events for us to recover. If you think about it, our bodies’ stress response systems were not designed to be in high gear over long periods of time. Unfortunately, 2020 literally tasked us and pushed us beyond what we are normally able to handle. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of anything more exhausting than that!
Going back to my point about the stress response, that typically has to end at some point. When your body is consistently stuck in stress response mode, you may experience difficulty sleeping, changes in appetite, changes in weight, frequent tension headaches, feelings of nervousness/anxiety, difficulty breathing and digestion issues. Any of these sound familiar? I know for me, by April, my sleep pattern had gotten so wonky that waking up before 10am was near-impossible. I had also begun experiencing these awful days-long headaches that made daily tasks so difficult to complete. Eventually, your body begins to shut down when the stressor is not eliminated, and I, like several others, watched my body shut down on me.
To deal with the exhaustion that I feel, I have challenged myself to slow down. I know, I know, I sound so “millennial” and “zen” right now, and I can’t even believe myself either! But really, what better way to deal with exhaustion than simply slowing down? It’s like having to take a nap when you feel tired after a long day. Since I can’t possibly take a nap all year (trust me, I would if I could!) I’ve decided to slow myself down and actively fight against the personal and social pressure to constantly be busy. It’s a daily mental struggle; overcoming the guilt I feel for not planning every hour of my day, and accepting that the rate at which I expect myself to function is non-sustainable.
A helpful way that I’ve been managing my left-over fatigue is by doing short mindfulness meditations. I downloaded an app (UCLA Mindful) that provides a variety of meditations and body scans that I can do anywhere, at any time. I personally love the narrator’s voice! Aside that, I love that I can just do a quick 3-minute body scan during the day in-between client sessions. It helps me pause, relax my shoulders and breathe! Since I started doing short mindfulness activities, I noticed an improvement in my concentration, feel less tired between sessions, and have more energy to work out! If you want to get into meditation but struggle with sitting for long hours, I highly recommend checking out the resources on https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/ucla-mindful-app to easier and shorter meditations!
In addition to meditating as a way to slow myself down, I’ve also been spending less time scheduling. This sounds kind of weird, so let me explain. I absolutely love writing down everything I’d like to do in a day, and relish in the joy of crossing things off my to-do list. However, I have recently noticed that I tend to over-plan my day. This leads me to feeling guilty when I am inevitably unable to cross of everything on my list. This year, what I have started to do instead is only place between 3–5 items on my list, outside of my work schedule. For example, in the past, I would try to do about 8 different tasks AFTER classes/practica. Now, I only put what is absolutely necessary to complete after work. I also write down what exercises I want to do, and when I want to be in bed. This way, I can feel proud about working out and getting to bed on time!
It’s still early in the year, and I am still playing around with different ways to help slow down. What I do may not work for you, and that is completely okay! 2020 messed with us, and I only hope 2021 will give us some time to catch our collective breathes!
Take it easy y’all. Slow down, and let your body breathe .
