Been noticing how much of my energy at work goes into keeping up with everyone, the after-meeting chat, checking in on lunch plans, writing a full paragraph back when a short line would’ve done. With everything piling up lately I decided to pull back on all of it for a while and just see what happens.
Eating at my desk some days instead of joining the group, keeping messages short instead of padding them with small talk, leaving right when my day ends instead of lingering by the printer like I usually do.
First few days felt off, like I was being distant, a couple people asked if I was doing ok and I just said things were busy, which is true. After that it got easier, and the drive home has been quieter in my head too, not replaying the whole day on the way back like before.
Not trying to shut anyone out, just want less of my energy going toward keeping up appearances while things are this packed. Planning to ride this out through the busy stretch and see how it feels once it eases off.