How to Get Out of Survival Mode

Life doesn’t feel very good when you’re exhausted. It’s harder to be patient, present and kind. It’s harder to enjoy life.

Feeling overtired, overworked or overwhelmed? I’ve got you!

There are simple ways to start reclaiming your time and energy that can have an impact right away. 

We have to start by talking about wasted time.

When it comes to time wasting, I am (unfortunately) a bit of an expert. After almost 20 (!) years of marriage, Brian will affirm that I have always been surprisingly good at wasting time, and one of the easiest ways for me to do that is by getting stuck in indecision. The dreaded “analysis paralysis” can strike with decisions large or small. 

Dinner at a new restaurant with a menu I’ve never seen? Or at a familiar restaurant, but now there’s a lot of noise and folks are bustling around? (Or, really, any situation where decision making and a noisy environment collide.) Get comfortable, because it’s going to take me a while to narrow down the choices. And forget choosing paint colors for the house - that took months! 

And that’s just indecision-induced time waste. 

There are also plenty of time wasters that come a la carte. Things that drag me straight down the rabbit hole. These may be innocuous enough. The content is not objectionable, it’s fine at face value, but the “off” switch they give my brain means I can get stuck with them for much longer than I intended. 

The first experience I had with that degree of time-drain was the old computer game Snood, (click at your own time-waste risk!) which was sort of like the Candy Crush of its day. This was the first addictive thing I found on the internet, long before social media made the endless scroll a thing. It’s a mindless enough activity that I could keep consuming game after game on repeat, lulled into total time-unawareness. 

I remember sitting at the big old desktop computer in my family’s home office as a high schooler, eyes burning from exhaustion, and thinking “just one more game” ...  for at least 8 more games! 

And of course that’s not where it ends. Being a full time mom to two toddlers and a baby was a really hard season for me in terms of time wasting. I often felt so overwhelmed by the pile of laundry that needed folding that I’d avoid it, which meant that the already-overwhelming pile continued to grow as I’d dump another clean load on top. The pile just sat there, a constant reminder of my un-productivity, until I finally got the moxie to make a move. By this point, so much laundry had accumulated that it had become a real chore, not a simple 10-minute 1-basket task.

Living in survival mode was exhausting. And my nasty habit of putting off dreaded tasks for later didn’t help. I was still just as tired later, plus now there was even more piled up to take care of! 

When time-waste tempts us to stay a while longer, it feels like a break. A rest. But I’ve learned the hard way that most time-wasters aren’t restful, they’re just mindless.

Mindless things trick us into thinking we’re relaxed and rested, but they rarely refresh. Rather than bringing real rest or better energy, they simply suppress the mental noise for a short(ish) while. I might feel like my mind has been cleared, but it’s all waiting there, to be remembered either when I finally shut down that old iMac or the next morning when the alarm went off way too early and the day’s tasks loomed larger than life in comparison to the depleted energy levels with which I faced them. 

I learned through experience that life just doesn’t feel good when you’re exhausted. It’s harder to be patient, present and kind. It’s harder to enjoy life. 

As a follower of Jesus, I believe he meant what he said when he stated that, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10.) 

If I believe Him, why does “life to the full” sometimes feel so far out of reach?  

I think one main reason is that when we’re stressed, overworked, overtired or overwhelmed, it is especially hard to see how our habits and choices are contributing to that. It’s nearly impossible to take a step back and get a fresh perspective when you’re in the thick of maintaining what’s required for daily life. But once you do take a step back, you can more easily assess what’s working and what’s wearing you down. 

If you’re there right now, there is hope! There are simple ways to start reclaiming your time and energy that can have an impact right away. 

I created the 15-Day Energy Recharge Challenge based on some of the steps that best help me to reclaim my time and energy. It’s a set of simple steps to help streamline and focus your mental load. It’s a guided plan to help you get out of the ruts that are exhausting you and to recharge your energy. I’ve broken the steps into do-able daily actions that don’t require purchases or planning ahead (except for one! Full disclosure, Day 14 will ask you to make a plan!) 

If you’re looking for a starting place to get rid of the mental clutter and restless relaxation, this is for you. If you’re ready for a change, but don’t know where to start, this is for you. If you’re unsatisfied with life right now, but don’t have time or money for an overhaul, this is for you. 

Sharing the processes that help me is a bit of sweet redemption to the many lessons learned through failure. If you’re ready for some changes, this is a great place to start.