Are You Time-Sick?

My to-do list is endless.

 

Time was, it felt overwhelming. I spent the entire day chasing my own tail, getting very little done.

 

Of course I made lists. I made lists of lists. I tried to break it down, but the only thing I broke was myself. There’s a certain hubris in assuming we can do it all. Relationships. Career. Care-giving. Community service. Keeping in touch. You end up dropping one ball or the other, and always, always end the day exhausted and guilty.

 

Apparently, there’s a name for it: Time -sickness.

 

“Time sickness” is a term coined by Dr. Larry Dossey in his 1982 book Space, Time & Medicine to describe the distress and potential health consequences arising from the belief that time is constantly slipping away and that one can never accomplish enough.

If you’ve ever felt crushed by an endless to-do list—juggling work, relationships, self-care and responsibilities—you’ve likely experienced time sickness. This state of constant urgency fuels guilt, exhaustion and the feeling of never doing enough.

This was me, for sure. And the article linked above has helped me, so it’s worth reading in its entirety.

I’ve understood prioritization, changed my markers for productivity, and found ways to stop multi-tasking. One of the things that was making me go insane was social media, so I went on a hiatus. I’ve deleted all the social media apps from my phone, only logging in when I have some work-related requirement. I have also logged out of all social media on my laptop.

Apparently, I’m doing the right thing, according to this article.

 

If you order up coffee on a mobile app while scrolling your social feeds, or can’t stop watching videos and reading news articles on your phone at bedtime, listen up!

Researchers studied what happened when people agreed to block the internet from their smartphones for just two weeks. And turns out, 91% felt better after the break.

 

I’ve been feeling out of touch with my writer friends, and have landed myself in trouble at least once–not knowing what was wrong with a friend, who assumed I’d read their updates, per usual.

 

The world has seemed less chaotic, and I’ve rescued a fair amount of time in order to tackle the stuff on my to-do list. My poor empath self feels less buffeted by the headwinds of rage and frustration in my timeline, and the relaxation has helped me feel less time-sick–I have more time for a cuppa, and less anxiety over things I can do nothing about.

 

I wrote all about how I deal with online distractions in this post.

 

Anxiety over lack of time has gone down, but it’s not out. I still struggle sometimes, but I find I’m more focused on self-care now, and less governed by the fear of missing out.