When it comes to work-life balance (or what I like to call "work-life integration"), self-care is not an optional extra. It is essential and primary.
Perhaps you are experiencing pressure from colleagues, bosses, and promotional structures to keep giving, giving, giving - and while there may be a psychological reward for your high performance efforts, it is never worth sacrificing your mental health for the sake of career accolades.
Self-care is not an optional extra. It is essential and primary.
As I always say, a healthy self is a happy self, and that means saying "no" to the pressure to over/out perform on chronic basis, just so that others are pleased with you. It's time to put your mental and emotional health at the top of your priority list, for the sake of yourself and others.
Yes, I know. This shift in priorities has a cost. It might mean lower pay, less prestige on the job, or maybe even giving up on a career dream you hoped for. But in the end, self-care costs you less, much less than the long-term damage caused an unbridled pursuit of achievement, productivity, and career status.
A healthy self is a happy self, and that means saying no to the pressure to over/out perform on chronic basis.
If this is an area of struggle for you, if you sense that your mental health is suffering as a result work-life imbalance/chaos, then remember this: it is never too late to make a change. Change is hard, but it is often in times of stress that we have the greatest opportunity to grow, choose wisdom, and become more ourselves - even if that looks different from what we had originally wanted.
So now is the time! Be brave, be wise, and choose compassion for the person most needing it right now: you.