Is every day an Infinite Workday?

You know that feeling when you wake up in the morning with good intentions, and then suddenly it's 1 a.m. and you're still working? Yeah. I've been living that reality for longer than I care to admit. And a couple Mondays ago I ran myself into a brick wall at 90 miles an hour like a 1980s crash test dummy.

I decided it had to stop.

Here's what that Monday looked like: wake up, cram down some breakfast, start the laundry before planting myself in front of my computer for administrative work, then rustle up some lunch a few hours later, wash up those dishes, and get back to work—oh, it's the evening, time for more work: finish a few more household chores and weed in the back yard while it's still light—oh, it's dark now, let's get a shower, then cram down some dinner, then write a blog and some letters to my nieces and nephews for Aunt Meg's Mail Call, then put away the laundry, scrub the microwave, and maybe vacuum the back entry because it's got a bunch of dead leaves in it now that it's autumn ... oh look, it's 1 a.m. and I'm exhausted but there's more to be done!

The next day I was grumpy and exhausted even though I did honestly feel a little triumphant. I'd gotten SO MUCH done the day before! But somehow I still felt behind.

What?!?

The Problem with Infinite Work Days

As a highly sensitive person and recovering perfectionist, I've spent years trying not to do exactly what I did on that Monday: work myself to exhaustion.

And I ran up against the same truth I do each time this happens: when you face an infinite to-do list with infinite time, you'll work infinitely. There's always one more thing. Always another task that "needs" to get done.

The next day I did what I usually do in these scenarios: deploy my GPS tool, asking myself what was truly urgent and important, and prioritizing those tasks for the day. It works every time. But it still didn't seem to solve the pounding drive I felt to Get. More. Done.

The Shift That Changed Everything

After a soul-searching chat with ClaudeAI, I realized that I needed to approach this from an HSP perspective: how did I want my Mondays to feel?

I didn't want another Monday of white-knuckle anxiety, with the drumbeat of "get more done!" as the backing soundtrack in my exhausted brain.

I needed to feel calm. I needed a sense of ease, rest. And a balance of truly getting the urgent and important things done while also having plenty of break time. For my fellow high achievers: I'm not telling you to do less with your life! I'm just gently suggesting that if you don't also sprinkle some rest in there throughout the day, you're going to collapse. And then you'll get absolutely nothing done.

My ideal Monday was about waking naturally, feeling rested, working for a block of time then taking a break, and repeating that until the evening, at which point I wanted to take a deep breath, reset, and do some fun things—not more work.

I wanted calm. Flow. A sense that I'm checking important things off the list without being under the performance gun every moment. I wanted to feel like life is going smoothly—not perfectly, just good enough.

The Real Test

I started implementing a simple question most mornings—how do I want to feel today?—and this question has helped me not to repeat that awful Monday.

The real test always comes at the end of my workday. There is always work left undone. The to-do list doesn't end. It is so hard to stop.

But my solution can't be "keep working." That's what got me into this mess. The answer has to be "those things wait until tomorrow, or next Monday, or I find someone else to do them, or maybe they just don't belong on my list."

I'll always be tired of working if I never actually stop working.

I need to protect my evening for things that actually restore me. Crossword puzzle and iced tea? Surprise my nieces and nephews with a school pick-up? Kick back in my zero gravity chair to enjoy a crispy fall evening (that's finally here)? Go to the movies? Yes please!

I'm reminding myself again that being productive isn't about working until you collapse. It's about working in a way that lets you wake up the next day and do it again—without burning out in the process.

So guess what I did this past Friday evening? I ended my workday at 7pm and had a long, leisurely dinner with a friend, followed by a long, leisurely sleep-in the next morning. Boy, do I feel better! Please, gentle reader, do the same for yourself. 💜

Image credit: Image by Pexels from Pixabay