Overworking yourself  is not the answer

After being ghosted a month ago, I tried to keep myself occupied, overworking myself. It helped me quiet my mind, making his absence hurt less. Planning my day helps me deal with the fact I struggle to organize my emotions.

According to the Student Burnout Report, 90.7% of students have experienced burnout at some point and 81.3% this year. 

When people find themselves in a hard situation, some try to find comfort in burying themselves in work to avoid their feelings. According to psychotherapist Jennifer Nurick, “Work gives you a sense of accomplishment and predictability, unlike relationships. You feel more confident at work than dealing with emotions.”

They might consciously tell themselves, “Don’t think about those things.” Work is a way to avoid emotions and just keep their mind off the situation. Basically, emotionally avoidant people make themselves busy.

Avoiding emotions hurts.

Nurick notes that “overworking can create a barrier to intimacy. Understanding why you do this can help balance your work and relationships better.”

According to Psychcentral, to overcome emotional avoidance it’s best to express feelings, and improve emotional intimacy with feelings by recognizing emotions.  By learning to sit with emotions we learn how to express feelings. As much as we try to push our emotions down they remain. 

Next time when you recognize you’re overworking, try being able to express and be open about feelings with friends, family and significant others. By doing so, there is an opportunity to take a break from overworking and learn to be vulnerable with emotions. This will help improve relationships with others. 

Being vulnerable will help understand yourself and the situation. Don’t belittle your emotions.