In 2021, The New York Times deemed it fitting to define in precise and definitive terms the collective emotions we were experiencing at the time. This year, Oxford Dictionaries chose “Goblin Mode” as his 2022 word. But another term also resonates deeply in today’s society. It’s a concept that refers to stress caused by trying to relax rather than work on what’s stressing you out. , the impossibility of enjoyment and total calmness, the restlessness caused by the desire to tick the boxes on a never-ending task list.
Stress relief is a small but important part of our daily lives. It can be in conversations that you distracted a while ago, in waiting for your next job while you’re still eating lunch, or in turning away from the TV. – Do the list, even for a while. Whether it’s lying on the couch, taking a walk, or watching the paint dry, it’s a constant struggle between being productive and taking time for yourself.
The word earned its own entry in the Urban Dictionary in August 2020, but the concept predates that. According to a study conducted by the American Psychological Association nearly 40 years ago, 30% to 50% of people find stress relief when they try to relax. But psychologist Ingrid Pistono says the phenomenon has intensified recently. “Social media recommends waking up at 5am to be productive, training like a pro, cooking like a chef, being the perfect parent. With so much to do and so much pressure, who has time to think about relaxing?” she thinks.
As such, grayscale appears to be one of the extreme questions: Do I generate or do I relax? Described as a tweet. “When I am with someone, I put more energy into thinking about myself than being with that person. says. But when I try to take a break, I quickly get bored. Pistono recalls: You think relaxing is a waste of time, but what you really want is to save time. ”
Cristina Rabre is a project manager for a telecommuting translation startup. Her role is bound by tight deadlines, and stress relief is part of her daily routine, despite the fact that her work is only a small part of the overall process. , doing yoga or going on vacation slips through,” she says. The moment when her feelings get stronger is when she’s about to go to sleep. “Especially at night, when I try to relax by closing my eyes, controlling my breathing, and not thinking about the sources of my stress, I can only think about what I have to do the next day.”
Stress relief is a social phenomenon. Just look at the number of Google searches for the words “stress” (4.3 billion) and “relax” (1.5 billion), or check out the numerous Reddit forums addressing this topic. In the digital realm, it’s a constant source of humor. As user @ramalauw explains in a TikTok video: Tone, the set of things that come when you relieve stress: chronic procrastination, crippling anxiety, constant burnout.
Today’s society struggles to navigate between the need to be productive, the urge to check email every two minutes, and the inertia of forcing apps to open only to close them after scrolling for 20 seconds. is. We are restless beings who seek constant stimulation from text messages, busy schedules, or eight online courses. Psychologist Teresa Mingo says, “We forget how to be bored, we forget the thinking power that boredom has. take away many things.
How can we return to the essence of our meditative life? For Ingrid Pistono, it’s important to normalize the lack of time and stop running life at full speed. We take a different pace (a more conscious and challenging one) and incorporate what works for us into our daily lives.The first step can be small enough to stop
Running when you’ve already missed your train, paying more attention to the vacation story of the person in front of you, or rethinking whether constant production actually gives your life meaning. Even if you’ve been made to believe that since the beginning of time.
