I’m 20 years old. I had been working 40+ hours a week since I graduated high school and was working after school shifts for my junior and senior year. My job wasn’t terrible by any means, just extremely tiring and repetitive. I starting feeling quite depressed after a while and felt like my life was just being consumed by work. I never had any motivation to do anything on my free time because I was too exhausted from my job.
I managed to save up a pretty good amount of money and am now able to take the winter off. In the past month I’ve gained my motivation back, started going to the gym 4 days a week, been able to catch up on chores around the house, spending time with friends and family, and finding time for hobbies I love and didn’t have time for. It’s truly been amazing. My stress levels have dropped so much I feel like a totally different person.
I know it might sound like I’m lazy and just don’t want to work, but I truly didn’t feel like myself when I spent all my time working. The only thing that brings me down now is knowing that this feeling won’t last for long. Before I know it I’ll be back to the 40hr/week grind. I’m just trying to make the most of life while I can. And life really is great when you have time and energy for the important stuff. I hope one day I can find a way to have this feeling more often.