Ever experience saying “YES” to way too many things in life, yet to find yourself barely breathing in between all the opportunities you’ve overcommitted to?

A typical trait of my life, but I’m definitely learning to say “No” better.

Recently I took few months off to take care of my mental health. The cause of the stress has peaked and a few weeks off just wasn’t going to cut it. We all experience it at times. no one is free from it.

What we can control is time to reflect on our challenges. It’s totally OK to take some time for yourself.

During this downtime I reconnected with people that inspired me during pandemic but never had a chance to meet in person. They all had inspired me in their own ways but meeting them in person helped me recollect the passion in some parts of my scattered career journey.

I’m writing this in the midst of a much needed self-care trip in South East Asia alone. It’s been 2.5 years since I’ve taken a trip abroad. Some recent challenges caused my work-related stress level to hit a new peak — completely out of my own control. I had to push the pause button.

It got me thinking, this product designer journey is a battle and a half:

• The recent 2022 tech crush and lay-offs
• The employed trying to stay employed
• The constant new software updates you’ve got to learn
• Working with the wrong people burns you out
• Dealing with challenging stakeholders
• Trying to convince client why it’s not a good idea to make the logo too big
• Pandemic is still going, which added another layer of challenge
• You haven’t updated your portfolio in years
• The recession is coming
• Am I good enough…

The list goes on.

If you are experiencing this, you’re not alone. This is the sign of burnout, which generates negative perceptions in everyday things, even when they are not so bad.

It’s time to pause and rewind.

Many mentees I spoke to feared taking time off work, which is totally unhealthy. Sometimes when your emotions take toll, there’s no time to get leave approval! You have to just press pause immediately to heal. Your workplace should encourage you to take care of your mental health.

I used to block a time slot out and open on my calendar an entry titled “Therapy session”, so my team could see it when they tried to book a meeting with me. I don’t ever move that session, they’ll have to work around it and respect my mental space. As manager, I felt that this is the best example I can set to encourage my team to check in with themselves. Let’s start normalise this.

And to all managers, if your team is taking a lot of sick leave — that’s a sign of burnout! please do the due diligence and check in with them.

Taking time off for yourself doesn’t equal having your whole family around you. Yes, we love our family, but it’s important to spend time on your own. It can be as little as just two days. Rent a cabin in the woods and be there to enjoy nature, smell the rain, read a book, opportunity to reflect on your wellness. This is actually very achievable even if you are time-poor.

Why not make it a repeated commitment, something to look forward to every few months? Self-care should be always prioritised.

If you find this piece helpful, give it some loving claps 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼. It’d help reach more designers who need to hear this.

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