The Barrel Effect: How Overwhelm Happens
Imagine you have a barrel. Everyday, you put items into it. Overtime it becomes fuller and fuller. Yet you’re too busy to empty it. Even just a bit. Then one day, it overflows. Out comes, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Now, think of yourself as the barrel. You keep adding responsibilities and “to do’s” to your list everyday. Not to mention, dealing with external stressors beyond your control. All without making time in your schedule to breath and take time for yourself. Eventually, you may theoretically, overflow as well. Bringing out, the good, the bad and the ugly.
This is called the barrel effect. It is the mere understanding that if we keep piling on too much in our daily lives, without consistently making time for our physical, spiritual and emotional well being (aka, emptying the barrel), we will find ourselves in a state of over flow. Leading first to the feeling of being “wired and tired” and ultimately, to burnout.
When you find yourself feeling “wired and tired”, you are in a mode of go, go, go. It’s the feeling of having to get everything done all at once with not nearly enough time to do it all. You keep managing and pressing on and after a while, you start to become exhausted; physically and emotionally. But you keep riding those late nights, perhaps even suffering from insomnia. You’re on high alert at all times. Possibly suffering from irritability and increased worry. It’s tiring, but you keep going, full steam, with no time for yourself. Does any of this sound familiar?
This is called hyperarousal, AKA “wired and tired”. This is where your body is in overdrive. Being able to get into this state is important for survival, because it enables you to feel like to you have the ability to fight off a mountain lion or run for your life in an extremely dangerous situation. But, if we stay in this state for too long, we start to feel negative impacts and our health can go down hill. Our bodies simply can’t stay in overdrive 24/27. Over time, this can impact your immune system and you may even notice that you start to get sick more often.
Unfortunately, if we continue on this tend of being “wired and tired” for too long, the negative impacts will catch up with us. We will eventually crash. Theoretically, we will hit a brick wall. This is what we call the “burn out” phase. Also known as hypo arousal. This is where your body switches from being in overdrive to slow motion. Where your body starts to shut down in a last-ditch effort to tell you, “This is too much! Please slow down!” In this state, everything seems slow, you may pull away from others and become less engaged. You may still feel symptoms of worry, but you may also start feeling symptoms of depression and extreme fatigue. At this point, you may even struggle to get out of bed each morning.
We may not notice it. But this exact scenario happens all too often to so many people around us. Especially, to those working busy jobs and climbing the corporate ladder. But here’s the good news, you can continue to achieve and meet your dreams, going above and beyond. You can continue to strive at managing your daily tasks, effectively and efficiently. All while avoiding burnout and the state of being wired and tired.
Now let’s go back to that barrel. Imagine you have a barrel. Everyday, you put items into it and everyday, you make sure to take a few items out. This creates balance and makes more room for additional items. Overtime, you continue this process, and your barrel never overflows. This is called emptying the barrel.
You can regularly empty your theoretical barrel in your own day to day life as well. Emptying your barrel doesn’t have to be complicated or stressful. In fact, it’s the opposite. All that you need to do is effectively make time for yourself, for positive activity and reflection. This will in turn, help to empty your barrel.
If you think you don’t have enough time, schedule it in. Start with small 10-minute breaks, increase to 20 minutes from there, and beyond. If you’re worried about time management and productivity, it has actually been proven that taking short breaks can out right boost your performance levels in the office and at home.
Activities that will help empty your barrel and improve stress resilience include simple things like exercise, walking, meditation, breath work and yoga. Even things like journalling, taking a nice long bath or calling to speak with a friend or loved one can help as well. If you start making time for these things once or even twice a day, it will increase your happiness, boost your mood, productivity and vigor for life. Most importantly, it will help you avoid reaching a state of burn out in this busy hustle and bustle world that we find ourselves living in today.
Remember. We need to go slow to go fast. If we go too fast all at once, we can crash. Take the time now, to go just a little bit slower and make time for the good things that give you that extra spark in life. This will help you achieve your wildest dreams, get that next promotion, take on those mountains and reach the top of the world. All while avoiding burnout.
Written by Nicole O’Neil
This article is for informational purposes only, even if and regardless of whether it features the advice of physicians and medical practitioners. This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice.
