How do you know when you're pushing yourself too hard?

[Devin]

@Ulax @Gesundheit2 that's what I'm think too, thank you

[Devin]

11 minutes ago, Kksd74628 said:

@Gesundheit2

Are you claiming that you couldn't be top athlete, succesful business man or otherwise very talented artist without having all possible mental illnesses?

i think you're talking about productivity and we're talking about exhaustion/harming our selves

Yeah there's no limit to productivity, but you can only work so many hours/calories a day and you can only take on so much stress before you get to the other side of the bell curve and you're in depreciating return territory for productivity and then the more you work the less productive you are and it has long term effects, overheating the engine requires serious repair work.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Devin

[Kksd74628]

@Devin

Yeah that's what I am talking about and hope we agree on that. As I tried to explain that you shouldn't exhaust or harm you, because that could even make your pruductivity and happiness levels drop and what's the point in that then. I just want people to see some perspective that how much you could actually push yourself if you work very smartly. You could hit gym like 10 hours a week, run for 7 hours a week, do your normal work and maybe even study on your way. That just reguires you to take care of your body and mind in the meantime.

[Gesundheit2]

Pushing yourself too hard is a bad long-term strategy. It's unmaintainable, and it will eventually lead to failure. Slow and steady wins the race.

[Devin]

1 hour ago, Gesundheit2 said:

Pushing yourself too hard is a bad long-term strategy. It's unmaintainable, and it will eventually lead to failure. Slow and steady wins the race.

Music to my ears. Thanks, nice for reassurance once in a while, in my experience when you push continuously you lose some peripheral vision, when I take it in stride I always make out like a fat rat in unexpected ways because something pops up in the peripheral I wouldn't have otherwise seen, it's like things just fall into place better.

 

My biggest problem with burn out is that when it happens you're so burnt out you just keep going albeit at turtle pace but you don't recover because you're so exhausted you don't think straight

Edited August 18, 2022 by Devin

[Gesundheit2]

@Devin Yeah, man. And it's definitely not an excuse to avoid working hard, or to dismiss the validity and importance of brute-force sometimes. But just for long-term, I have found that it ultimately doesn't work anywhere near ideally, and that it eventually backfires. I have personally not seen a person who takes this hard-work mindset for the long-term without throwing themselves out of balance in most aspects of their lives. It's like life becomes one-dimensional for them and they gradually start losing touch with it until they're completely living in a different world. At best, they may be successful but unhappy, or with secret but serious mental challenges. And I just don't recommend that way of living for any one.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Gesundheit2

[Devin]

@Gesundheit2 yep, I love working hard, when you find something you think is worthwhile doing it takes no will power.

Thanks

[eos_nyxia]

Well, you can develop a sort of grit and confidence that you might not otherwise be pushed to develop, especially by choice. Ever wonder how you'd fare under more difficult circumstances? Well, that experience can back you up now.

It is unavoidable that it wears on your body though, even if you can offset a sense of undesirable deterioration psychologically and emotionally. (Most of the time, the latter also does involve "paying it forward" until later in a self-destructive way.)

To your first question... how do you recognize your limit?  Ultimately, developing much greater emotional and physical awareness, so you recognize what feels off and does damage in the moment, or at least much sooner rather than later. And not after you've already viscerally felt the consequences of your actions which were not originally anticipated. (For example: misestimating how much of something you can actually take, and what it realistically takes to get there under current circumstances... while recognizing that circumstances can and do change as well, also in smaller increments that often go unrecognized if you're just not that tuned in your body/ psyche.)

[Gesundheit2]

Just thought this might be related.

[Devin]

@eos_nyxia I think that's great stuff, thank you

[Devin]

2 hours ago, Gesundheit2 said:

Just thought this might be related.

Yeah I think that might be dead on. Occasionally you can push harder and then take a rest but I'd say 70% stride for anything long term, more than two weeks or so, I'd say I maintain a higher level of productivity in the long run at about 70%, seems like a good number to me too.

Thanks

Edited August 19, 2022 by Devin