Time check, it’s six o’clock in the evening, and you’ve decided to call it a day and get yourself a nice meal for dinner, so you head off to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients. After a few minutes, you begin to put everything inside the slow-cooker to give yourself some time to stretch on the couch, but as you start to unwind, something doesn’t feel right. It seems that no matter what you do, you can’t seem to shake away this feeling of anxiety no matter how much rest you’ve been getting.
As sad as this situation may sound, many people worldwide have fallen victim to this unshakeable feeling of anxiety constantly crawling up their back, messing with their head, and preventing them from getting any rest at all. However, truth be told, this unbearable annoyance doesn’t stem from stress but people growing insensitive to the rejuvenating effects of relaxation. And today, we’ll be finding out just why that’s happening and what you could do to fix it.
#1 You’ve Been Scrolling Through Your Newsfeed For Too Long
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with staying up to date on all current events and developments happening globally, but consistently scrolling through your newsfeed like clockwork also does a number on your mental health and wellness. We can’t deny that despite the efforts of optimists to paint a brighter picture of tomorrow, much of the news has been nothing short of scary and dangerous, such as the violence spreading across Israeli streets.
- Feeling The Weight Of The World: Staying updated with news is one thing, but surrounding yourself with nothing but bad news tends to burden the weight of the world on your shoulders. It makes you feel small and clouds your thoughts with negativity, and much of this negative headspace trickles into your actions, and it comes to a point where doing something else to keep your mind occupied no longer works.
- Accessible Sources Of Instant Worry: Another dangerous thing about doomscrolling through your newsfeed for too long is its accessibility, and with just a click of a button, you’ll be going through retweets, posts, and shares like wildfire. One short read immediately leads you to the next, and all that worry starts to well up inside you, and no amount of redirecting this negative energy can be accomplished through relaxing.
#2 Work Has Burnt Out Your Motivation Reserves
If it’s not an information overload that causing unintended dissonance in your much-needed leisure time, then it’s most likely you’re burning through all of your motivation reserves due to work. The new normal has been relentless in its pursuit of disrupting the traditional way of doing things, and trying to adapt to all the changes has spread most people too thin. What’s worse, most media likes to paint the difference as “more efficient” without considering the toll it’s taken on everybody.
- Navigating Through A Chaotic Environment: Nobody’s a stranger to challenge, whether it be taking on the toughest fitness goal imaginable or crunching extra hours for your side hustle, a bit of spontaneous chaos never hurt. However, constant exposure to a chaotic work environment is never advisable because work is meant to be fulfilling and constructive. And no matter how much rest you plan on getting, you’re still heading straight back onto the battlefield you call a career.
- Everything’s Become “Too” Monotonous: On the opposite end, your work may have become a bit “too” monotonous, and because you’ve fallen into an endless cycle of doing the same thing over and over again, everything starts to feel numb. The lack of inspiration from a new challenge is a threat because it instills this unconscious notion that you’re unable to grow.
#3 Overindulging In Your Choice Of Entertainment
Lastly, if your issue with relaxation doesn’t fall under the first two, your case could be one of overindulgence in your choice of entertainment. Being stuck at home and not having the opportunity to go out and explore has left us with minimal options during our in-between time. Most of us naturally default to continuing our Netflix binge. As a result, the things we do for leisure have grown stale without us noticing, and it’s severely deterring our work-play balance.
What’s The Solution? Take A Break And Reconnect.
It’s not a novel concept, but one guaranteed solution to this problem is taking a good long break and reconnecting with someone you can open up to. Sure, it might sound a bit too selfish, but you’re going to need some time to gather your bearings, recollect your thoughts, and reflect where you want to go from here. And, to do so, you’ll want to be in a worry-free situation with a friend that can give you some thoughtful feedback and advice. So don’t pass up on that opportunity to lay down on an electric massage chair with your best friend on the phone to talk everything out.
Regain Control Over Your Life
Relaxation is just as important as any other responsibility you might have, so don’t just brush this problem off like some chip on your shoulder. Understand that it’s crucial to your self-care, and you wouldn’t want to spend the rest of 2021 constantly feeling a bit jumpy.
