How do you know it’s time to take a vacation?

This caption may raise someone’s eyebrows, as many will not understand how you cannot understand when it’s time to take a vacation. Surely, when summer comes! But truth is, this is not what we wanted to discuss in this article, rather than how to understand your body needs to rest and what the symptoms of nervous and emotional exhaustion are.

You are in urgent need of a vacation if:

It’s getting more and more difficult to motivate yourself

Self-motivation is a miraculous thing. Today it works impeccably, tomorrow it will have no effect on your whatsoever. If time-tested motivators stop working, it’s a wake-up call that means you have accumulated fatigue. If sometimes the meaning of your life seems blurry and your goals have lost their appeal, it’s a signal that means rest is in order!

You are constantly tired

It’s normal to feel tired when falling asleep at night. But feeling worn out when you wake up is a sign of accumulated exhaustion. You may even begin your morning quite upbeat, but soon your efficiency evaporates, you succumb to tiredness and apathy, which is especially alarming if your job has to do with mental rather than physical work. Another sure sign is inability to pep yourself up without using energy drinks like coffee. For some time a tonic drink will get you back to a functional condition, but that does not last long. As soon as the charge of your inner accumulator runs out, the body goes into “energy-saving mode”.

It’s getting more difficult for you to focus

If you suddenly find yourself unable to focus on a process, it’s a sure sign of your body resources dwindling. It’s time to rest if completing a simple task takes you several times longer than before. It’s like your brain is in hibernation. This pretty accurately describes it, actually. Constantly feeling worn out, tiring easily, experiencing lack of concentration – these are your body’s attempts to preserve the remaining resources dropping to a critical level.

Suddenly there are too many things to do

If you got slower and became more absent-minded, your efficiency inevitably starts to decline. And this leads to tasks accumulating like a snowball rolling down hill. You barely have time to finish current tasks, when new ones pop up. Your body and your brain need rest – urgently!

You can’t stop feeling guilty

The feeling of guilt is the direct consequence of dwindling efficiency. A tired person gets the feeling and it stays on. You understand that you are not coping with the tasks set, but you can’t pull forward. You are almost out of energy. So the only thing left is to blame yourself for lack of proper diligence, while in reality you desperately need proper rest.

Everything irritates you

It has become very difficult being friendly while talking to others? You get to your boiling point quicker than ever? This is grounds for getting some well-deserved rest. You are physically and emotionally drained, which means it’s time to hit the RESET button. In reality, urban dwellers are all quite irritable because they come in contact with a great number of people constantly getting in their comfort zone. But if you are on a verge of lashing out just as the first words come out of your mouth, if your own friends and relatives are driving you nuts, if you are often rude and disrespectful, it’s time you took a vacation. Urgently!

You are prone to mood swings

Yet another telltale sign of physical and emotional exhaustion – frequent mood swings. These are characterized by suddenness. You get a real emotional roller coaster: a surge is followed by a sudden drop nearing depression. Then another surge followed by abrupt denial of the world around you. Time to put in your vacation request!

You are simulating illness and are really feeling unwell

Simulating illness is not always deliberate. As it was mentioned above, our body is working overtime trying to preserve whatever is left of our energy. Illness is a proven way of catching a break, so our body can resort to this method from time to time. It’s therefore completely logical that a simulation like that would be accompanied by quite real symptoms. The truth is, your body has exhausted its performance potential. It needs your help to restore, and the best thing you can do is take a vacation.

You get sick more often

Exhaustion and immune system go hand in hand. If you are not making any effort to replenish your life resources, your immune system falters. If it cannot be properly fuelled, it will work overtime. Frequent off-season illnesses signify you need some rest.

So, how many signs are true for you?

If no more than three, you can plan your vacation without any rush. More than seven means you need to stop now unless you want to end up in a hospital bed. How to survive until the long-awaited vacation in a situation like this? Meditate in the morning, during your work day and before going to sleep. Help yourself with regular reboots to get rid of the negative energy that only keeps building up.