How to stop working. When is the time to give it a break.

How to stop working. When is the time to give it a break

Work is good indeed. It makes a nation stronger and wealthier. Most countries in the world became rich with work, either with slaves or personal effort.

There is a limit for the modern-day work-sleep principle that is 8-8-8 principle. This says one has to work of 8 hours, socialize and more in 8 hours and sleep for 8 hours. Most work habits base their theory on this principle. Countries like Japan where people are said to work for more than 12 hours in office are thought to have a good work habits. Here sleeping at work place is considered to be a great worker character.They are rich, indeed, as well.

Many people see burning out as a way of procrastination and laziness.

You are reading this article and I guess you are threatened with the idea of being burnt-out out or  you are tired or you have a health issue because of long hour work. And you want to stop working.

Is there anything called burning out?

Of Course, there is. I have opposed this idea for long as a teenager with tremendous energy, with hours spent reading working. I worked 14 hours straight only standing up off my chair 2 or 3 times. As a student, I had taught my self-skipping lunch only to fulfil my perfectionist hunger on work. This becomes a habit for many years.

It is a hard article from a person who destroys his body and spirit with work. But I have the experience to share.

What happened.

When life goes by I noticed that the long hours in a single room working took away my responsibility in the social arena. I have noticed my self lacking from dating, or doing what is needed at home. It took me a week to buy cat food for my cat while she kept feeding on leftovers.(Well, she ate at least)

I loved working than going on a date or meeting a stranger.

After a while I noticed, three major issues in life.

1-Health issues.

Eye fatigue, body pain, intestinal discomfort was part of it. Due to careless dieting hours and over use of water as replacement clearly made me underweight.

2-social discussion.

After sitting hour and hours on a computer, I felt to lose the ability to speak fast. Mumbling becomes part of the conversation.

3-No time to reflect on self.

If you consume information for long hours and you don’t reflect your your life then you don’t change.

When is the time to stop?

1-If you feel you need time off, to reflect on yourself then do it.

Time off the work is necessary for one to reflect on one self. Where are you going, what are you, are you on the right track?. These are answered with clear mind. If you sit in a forest with fresh air, you have better chance of thinking clearly than with your phone in your office.

2-When you feel exhausted.

Believe me I was a machine year before, now I feel like I have body of 40 years old. I get tired easily. I have constant headache. These is not I am patient but I am sometime having discomfort. This was out of my reading years before.

3-When you need to fix something.

Sometimes relationships are pain in life if you don’t have the skills. A simple disagreement with husband or wife could be aggravated into the unexpected. It is good to stand still and take a breath and think and do something about it. This could require to travel.

4-If you are over 50 , you are probably tired.

Age is a limiting factor for energy. No matter what people say about motivation, a 50 years old don’t have equal motivation like the 20 years old. With age, one should get the freedom to have more time of a break. That is necessary.

5-If you develop hate for your work or if you feel lost.

Regret comes to those who spent their youth working for money without life purpose. And at the end they only have money and nothing else to show off. You should be able to work for purpose, no matter how much you can make or no matter where it takes you. You should take time off and reflect on your road map.

Work is great but when it becomes a hurdle for your growth, you should quit.