Audrey A McGee

I’ve been on a long journey of how I relate to productivity.

Being a very ambitious person who also has problems with distraction, I have been often discouraged as to my own use of time.

One thing you’ll often hear as an intern is to say yes to everything — take advantage of every opportunity, make connections everywhere, never let a moment pass you by to help build your case and your public image.

Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it?

I definitely think there are moments that this is a good idea. Obviously, in my “life is too short to be awkward” post, I’m encouaraging confidence in networking. And there were many times when my taking an extra opportunity helped my career immensely, as you’ll see in my next few posts.

But then there’s those times when you’re burnt out. When you’re too exhausted to make an elevator pitch. When it feels like your professional smile is fake. When you go for months on end without making a blog post. And then discouragement can set in, because you aren’t following through. It feels like you’re a failure.

Well…

A career is not your life.

You don’t have to chase down every rabbit trail to build your resume.

You don’t have to be productive every single second of the day to be happy or even successful.

Sometimes, it’s enough to just exist.

When I’m having a rough mental health day/week/month, then I am going to step back from blogging and doing NaNoWriMo. When I’ve been working for 8 days straight, I’m going to turn off my phone and have a proper Sabbath.

Yep, there are people I wish I’d been bold enough to talk to and opportunities I wish I’d had the time for.

But just sitting and breathing in my car is not a waste of time.

You’re okay.

Don’t be afraid of just existing.