Overpacked-Living can be defined as a phenomenon or urge to do more in less time at the cost of basic functions such as sleeping and eating.
It is a long known fact that the more your average heart rate, the less is your lifespan. You can imagine a frantic lifespan of a hummingbird compared with a not-very-eventful-on-a-daily-basis-existance of a tortoise. In this scenario, who lives better? If you compare an agrarian lifestyle with urban corporate hustler- who is living it better?
Unlike a lot of Gen Z slang, “Overpacked-Living” is pretty self explanatory and yet, for life of me, I cannot decide if it’s a good thing or bad.
Here are some Pros and Cons and let’s see if we have some answer at the end of it.
Pros of Over-Living:
- Get more done in less- Favorite mantra of the corporate hustlers and a bit obvious too. Who wouldn’t like that!
- Leaves you with more time to do more!- Who wouldn’t love this one too! Do more in same time.
- Appearance of being an over-achiever- Where we document every meal and every smile, the more you do, the more it makes you look like the person who ‘has-it-all’ and has ‘done-it-all’, the ‘it’ thing and maybe even a motivation for many.
- Instant and Tons of Gratification- Bosses appreciating you, your brimming social calendar, meeting targets and promotions, traveling to the known and the unknown, fitness on mark- why not!
- Feels like Winning- What a high! Checking all the boxes having achieved a lot, since life is short and yolo and Carpe Diem and yadayada..
Feeling good so far? :)
Cons of Overpacked-Living:
- The silent cost of opportunity- Deeper health issues. Usually a lot happens at the cost of sleep. The absolutely essential resting period of 6–9 hours that helps us sustain is a heavy cost. The number of hours your spent on your cardio work against you when you are chronically under-slept.
2. Burn-outs- Not having adequate time off, will surely affect your ability to think clearly and make best decisions. More importantly it will also affect your enthusiasm for the things you like most- family, work, social life, or more.
3. Managing change- Being used to instant gratification, it is difficult to appreciate the long term benefits of a well rested mind and body. This may end up making you feel lethargic and ‘not having achieved much’. Just like any other lifestyle change, this is also difficult. Taking essential, mandated time off can end up affecting your mental health and increasing anxiety and feeling of loneliness.
4. Lack of Flexibility- Life throws its own curve balls. People who are usually doing more in less have their resources and schedules packed. They find it very difficult to manage disruptions and unscheduled events. Everything from an unplanned pregnancy to ‘surprise’ guests coming over can throw you off your game and it becomes very stressful to accommodate these.
5. Fear of defeat- For many taking a step back, settling in for a comfortable choice can sound defeatist, and as if they are not ambitious enough or smart enough or successful enough. We don’t see many examples to corroborate this step back with actual success.
There are people who have no option but to live an overpacked life, and it may not be as glamorous as I made it sound earlier. A full time working mother and wife is the epitome of overpacked-living. We know too many stories. We know too many such women. How do they “do it all”? — They don’t. They pay a silent cost. They all do. Either with sleep or with health or with their family or with something — they pay. And yet they go on because they have to.
We want women in leadership roles. We want our children growing up in same and wholesome environment. And we don’t want a heart attack at 45.. or at any age for that matter. So, what gives?
How to make it sustainable? scalable?
Being a full time working mother myself, I spent most of 2023, trying to understand how to get the balance right. I discussed with my family, many colleagues and observed other people who I think are killing it! I have structured these in 2 types of activities- breathe in, and breathe out.
Here’s what I’ve found that I will be incorporating in 2024 to help me strike a healthy balance.
Sharing it here for the benefit of all ( not only the wonder women :) )
- Be great at your job (Breathe In)- An ongoing pursuit. Take less to do more. Learn actively as you go. Take usable notes and send those MOMs right after the meeting. All emails don’t have to be ‘perfect’. Power through tactical, so you can take more time for strategic tasks.
- Have a sacrosanct cut-off (Breathe Out)- I am lucky to be working at an organization that works only 4 days/week. And yet lately I am finding myself in meetings on Fridays. With a non-negotiable cut off, you will find ways to make it work WITHIN the time you have and not go over. Have a cut off for devices- phones, tabs. Same rule.
- Sleep-workout-play-eat healthy in that order (Breathe In)- Make sure you get your quota of sleep. Remember when you are scrolling at 1:00 AM to get a sense of control of your life till your vision gets blurry. Yeah- sleep is better than that. And more effective. Spend meaningful,device-less time with your family. Share hobbies, invest free time doing something completely different from your day job. Helps everyone involved.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff (Breathe Out)- Any change is difficult. Don’t get disheartened when the morning goes wrong. You have rest of the day to sort it out. Don’t worry if the entire day doesn’t work your way- you will most likely see tomorrow, and have an entirely new opportunity all over again. Don’t entertain feelings that don’t help you- like guilt. Like the sword of Gryffindor- absorb only what makes you stronger, disregarding the rest.
If you’ve reached here, you deserve a pat on the back for being on this journey with me and hope you crush it in 2024!
#peaceout #Happy2024!
