Are you joggling with your time between billion things you chose to do at once? In this day and age (and corporate reality), it’s easy to get detached from a sense of self and lose your compass. It’s hard to balance sleep and self-care as an overachiever, but it’s also crucial if you want your personality to survive all the challenges. Don’t lose yourself in all of your tasks. Stay efficient but also be kind to yourself.
Put in paper and prioritize
What could be different if you only list the things you already do? It’s not a coincidence that many therapists and mental health specialists swear by making lists and writing things down. You’d be surprised how your perspective might change once you see everything you already do on paper.
Overachievers significantly often lose track of their tasks and how important each task is. So, make sure to start writing down at least once a week (we don’t want to make writing lists one more obligation to you). Once you put everything on paper, go over all the things, and think about them. Imagine yourself five years from now. Ask yourself three questions:
- What do you primarily want to achieve?
- Which things on the list will help you with it?
- Which things can slow you down?
By answering these questions, you’ll be able to prioritize all your tasks. As a result, you’ll be free to let go of some of them and make more time for yourself.
The ”golden child” syndrome
Being an overachiever is a personality trait. Like all other personality traits, it’s formed in early childhood. So, to learn how to cope and make life less stressful, you need to look good in your early days. One thing many overachievers have in common is a so-called ”golden child syndrome.” It’s a term we use to describe a person whose parents incorporated the feeling of having to be perfect at everything. It’s a coping mechanism in children who lack healthy parental affection and stability and learn to seek it by achieving something essential and other pleasing ways.
Most commonly, it’s the firstborn child. They later develop a unique type of perfectionism. They take on many tasks, and they beat themselves up if they fail to accomplish each one perfectly. Have you found yourself in this description? Don’t worry. You’re not alone. The crucial part of coping with this is learning how to focus on building yourself up instead of people pleasing.
Don’t steal sleep time from yourself
Overachievers often pull all-nighters to catch up with all the activities. You’ll sleep when you’re dead, right? That is one of the most unhealthy habits that ”golden children” have. You might not realize it, but you need more sleep than air and food. The melatonin that your pineal gland secret majorly when you sleep (at decent hours) is crucial to the regeneration of your body and stress resiliency. It helps you heal and prepares your mind and body for a day full of activities. Without it, you’ll be working at half of your capacity at best. And that can be a problem if you have a billion things to do.
Add self-care to your ”to-do” list
When you erase the things you don’t need to do, it’s time to add the essential thing that we’re sure you forgot – an excellent old self-care. No, it’s not just some fancy charlatanism of the modern age. Taking time for yourself and doing what you love is the only way stability can be achieved in work and your personal life. So, make sure to add some self-care activity at the very top of your ”to-do” list, and don’t skip it, ever.
Taking naps as a way to balance sleep and self-care as an overachiever
When you have 4 hours of sleep instead of eight, it’s normal to be tired and less efficient throughout the day. In such cases, a quick nap can save the day. It can give you a proper balance and a little boost before you get a good night’s sleep. However, be careful not to nap too long and frequently because it can further mess up your natural sleeping schedule. If you feel like your night’s sleep is not the best quality, limiting the nap time might be an excellent way to put an end to tossing and turning and get some rest.
Supplements and pills
Sometimes, the only way to balance your sleep schedule is to turn to supplements, like melatonin or even sleeping pills. However, if you opt for the second option, you need to be aware of the danger of addiction to sleeping pills.
Make sure to consult a mental health professional and avoid misusing them. Keep in mind that if you do, you might worsen your life’s imbalance.
Practice loving yourself more
We need to say this at the expense of sounding like all average self-proclaimed life coaches. Practice loving yourself more. That is the hardest of all the ways and witty trickery to achieve balance. Take a deep breath, and slow down. Look in the mirror and recognize that all those goals that you’ve put in front of yourself don’t define your true essence. Remember, you are so much more than all those tasks that you do daily. Your true self is worth loving without all those shiny medals and achievements. Some people see you and love you for who you are. When are you going to become one of them?
The truth is – you can’t balance sleep and self-care as an overachiever. There will always be some goal, some task to keep you up at night. But, if you achieve to love yourself more, only then can you expect a happier and healthier future. And that’s the achievement we root for.
Meta: Are there any ways to balance sleep and self-care as an overachiever? What can you do to live a healthy life and do a million things at once?
