1-Minute Thought: Overwork Isn't Discipline

Those who're overworking themselves are not disciplined.

Photo by Hunter Haley on Unsplash

Have you ever heard of the indiscipline of overwork? Maybe you have, perhaps you haven't.

It's when we push ourselves too far because we want to work harder. In the end, we hurt ourselves by burning out—or inflicting actual injuries on ourselves, which now results in even less productivity and more distress and pain.

While studying one of Ryan Holiday's articles about "The Indiscipline Of Overwork," I came across a thought I would love to share with you in this edition of "1-Minute Thought."

"Moderation. Being present. Knowing your limits. This is the key. This takes just as much discipline as pushing yourself hard. The body that each of us has is a gift. Don't work it to death. Don't burn it out."

I remember when we were in school, studying for major exams. We would push ourselves into very long hours of studying, and most times, many of us would fall sick. We wouldn't even get an A—maybe a C—for all that stress—we were not disciplined. If we were disciplined, we would know how to structure our time for adequate studies.

It takes even more discipline to stay balanced. People who stroll into the domains of overwork and burnout are not disciplined and are reckless.

If you're overworking yourself, it's a subtle sign or maybe an obvious sign of your indisciplined nature. You need to change before you hurt yourself.

"It's human being, not human doing, for a reason."

The human body was meant to live and be, not work and die.

Most of the health problems most young people struggle with today are because they are overworking themselves and refusing to rest when they should.

"Sleep is your life-support system and Mother Nature's best effort yet at immortality." - Matt Walker.

This generation may glorify the hustle culture now and tell young folks to work their bones out—don't sleep now, or rest now, so you don't have to work tomorrow—an expression of our gross indiscipline.

We're not disciplined enough to strike a balance because even balance takes a lot of work—smart work. Balance will make you live long enough to enjoy all the money you're working for.

We need to learn how to be moderate and be balanced, be present and know when we've reached our limits.

What are your thoughts?

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I have started sharing 1-minute thoughts on innovation, leadership, entrepreneurship, business, growth, personal development, productivity, interesting ideas, facts, or even an argument or POV—this is the second one. Read the first one below:

The goal is to condense an interesting thought into a 1-minute read (about 350 words) for my readers (and anyone) to quickly read and absorb the core idea/thought, and I also share link(s) for further reading to content I have read myself.