Reasons you struggle letting yourself rest.

Whew, a week of vacation time did me wonders!

I recently spent a week out-of-office and I know I thought about working many times. But I took a step back and let myself enjoy my time away guilt-free. 

I know, though, that MANY people don’t let themselves rest or let themselves use their paid vacation time.

Here are some reasons that you struggle with taking time off or even just letting yourself rest in a normal work-week:

- You might be a people pleaser. Don’t worry, I’m not calling you a name! Being a “people pleaser” means that we often neglect our own wants or needs for the sake of others’. There are MANY reasons why we might be “people pleasers” and typically we’re doing it because it has served us well in the past.

- You could be struggling with the effects of a past relationship that was difficult or traumatic. If you’ve been in a relationship where your worth was tied to your productivity, then it might be incredibly difficult - and feel counterintuitive - to take time off or to rest, as it implicitly feels like you’re giving up the thing that gave you value.

- Finally, you might be having difficulty identifying or navigating our capitalistic and paternalistic culture we live in. We live in a society that tells us that rest is lazy and lazy is bad. We’re told that lots of work is good. While we may implicitly know that this isn’t fully true, we’ve all been raised with deeply-engrained messaging that, if we rest, we’re not as good as the people around us.

When is the last time you took time off of work? When is the last time you let yourself truly rest (and not just "veg out" as an avoidance strategy)? 

If the thought of doing that terrifies you, I'm here to help. 

My name is Erin and I'm a mental health therapist and EMDR therapist in Utah, accepting new clients. I'd love to explore these patterns with you, identify why this feels difficult, work through the "why," and help you determine how you'd like to live your life by your own values.

Does this resonate with you? If so, schedule a free intro call with me. No strings attached. I'd love to chat about working together.