Today, I want to talk to you about the importance of recharging your batteries.
Everyone has probably experienced the feeling of being in a producti-shitty spiral. You start feeling overworked and underproductive but you still have so much work left to do. So you force yourself into working some more, but it only causes you to feel even more overworked, while your productivity plummets further. You force yourself into working some more and you feel worse and worse, until, eventually, you're sitting in your chair, staring blankly in front of you, your mind screaming for a break.
It might seem counterproductive to stop working when you have so much more to do but you just can't force yourself into working for long periods of time without taking some time to breathe. You can't. No matter how much more work awaits you, you must take a breather every once in a while.
I have already given some advice on what to do when you're extremely stressed out (you could, for example, read a book but doing some light exercise also helps!) but now I want to share with you the way to handle stress when even the above fails.
I had been so stressed the last week or so. Getting a new job (yay!) and having to juggle school work, band practices and two other jobs, I started feeling like a robot. Basically, I got up, worked, ate, went to school, went home, worked some more, ate, and went to bed.
In a way, I was happy that I had so much work to do, because a lot of work = a lot of money. But it wasn't long before it started taking a toll on me. By Wednesday, I felt (and looked!) like a zombie, chugging coffee and energy drinks like they were water.
That's why I was SUPER excited when my boyfriend suggested a trip to Izola, a town by the Slovenian coast. Sure, the first things that came to mind were the 10 + articles that I had to write for work, and the tests I have on Tuesday and Wednesday, but it was really a do or die situation. So, I made a schedule to make sure I accomplished as much as I could, and, came Sunday, off we drove.
A year had passed since I last saw the sea, and I had completely forgotten how beautiful our coast is and how good the sea air smelled. There's just something about the seaside. When you look out the car window and catch the first glimpse of the vast waters and the barges, swinging lazily on their ways, that makes all the stress and all the troubles just melt away.
Had we not taken this trip, I probably would have spent my day watching Poirot because I would not have been able to do anything else. Now, don't get me wrong; Poirot is an awesome series and the little Belgian detective is great, but staring at the screen would not have recharged my batteries and relieved my stress the way this day trip did.
So, as this lovely day is slowly coming to an end, I'm feeling so relaxed and ready to take on another week of school and work. Until the next trip comes, I can look at these pictures I took in our beautiful Izola:
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| Izola - First glimpse of the sea. Let's Talk Happy by Martina |
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| Photography trick for beautiful, no filter pictures: Take a photo through the lens of yellow-tinted sunglasses. Let's Talk Happy by Martina |
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| Slovenian coastal towns have many narrow, cobbled streets and colorful houses. Foto: Let's Talk Happy by Martina |
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| This fabulous seagull just stood there and let people take pictures of him. Let's Talk Happy by Martina |
Don't be afraid to go on a trip of your own. Even if only for a couple of hours, the change of scenery will help you unwind and, in the end, you will have accomplished so much more than if you forced yourself into working.
What's your go-to destination when a change of scenery is required?
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