By: Keely Hamilton, Senior Content Creator, and Courtney Randolph, Chief Communications Officer

Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt guilty taking a break. Keep them up if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed and have been too afraid to admit you need help. If you wondered whether we had ours up too, we absolutely do. 

As female athletes, we have learned how to balance so many things: school, sports, work, friends, family, relationships. The list goes on. And when it’s time to put our game face on? You can bet we’re ready to push ourselves to the limit and achieve amazing things. The hustle is all too real - but… are there times when the hustle can become TOO real or too much?

What does it look like when the hustle mentality gets to be too much? We feel like we can’t take a rest day. We feel like we need to be present all the time, whether through social media, work, or otherwise. We feel like if we’re not working towards something then we’re wasting time.

The “hustle” can be helpful in sport, school, or work - in moderation. Too much hustle can become toxic and cause a spike in anxiety levels, lower performance due to lack of sleep, and overall feeling isolated. You might’ve heard the phrase “work smarter, not harder.” In order to prevent burnout, we like to think that recovery days are essential in order to get everything you can out of your hustle on days that you need it. 

So let’s talk about NOT hustling today and, instead, taking a break. Let’s give ourselves the gift of a real break, the kind where you are actually doing nothing but just breathing. The kind where you can be you and not worry about any opinions other than your own. The kind where you aren’t answering emails, texts, or DMs. Where you aren’t staring at a screen or coping with the constant onslaught of information. 

In honor of #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth, we’ve made a list of our favorite strategies to start decompressing and penciling in a little more “me time” into your schedule: 

1. Clear out your social media: Unfollow accounts that make you feel anxious or give you negative vibes. Social media is a great platform for learning and connecting with people around the world; however, it can be a toxic environment that leads to unnecessary stress. No one, we repeat, NO ONE should measure their self-worth based on what they see or hear online. Your mental and physical health comes first above everything else. Make the decision to remove content from your feed that doesn’t serve or inspire you.

2. Make recovery days a priority: When we say recover, we mean RECOVER - mentally and physically. Take those breaks because your body needs them! Just as sleep is important for your body to recharge and heal from the day, recovery days allow your body to reset from all the hard work you’ve put in during the week. If you’re in need of some movement, engage in low-impact activities like walking to get some fresh air or a slow-flow yoga class. If you really get into it, treat yourself by breaking out the face masks and bath bombs and switching your phone to ‘Do Not Disturb.’ This leads us to our third strategy...

3. Turn off your electronics: Yes, we know this is a tough one but trust us when we say this is life-changing. Turn off your electronics and just be present. So much of our lives are centered around constantly going from one activity to the next, so it can be challenging for us to sit and be at peace with ourselves. Disconnecting from your devices (even if it's just for a few hours) will allow you to focus on other things that may take a backseat on your priority list sometimes. This is a perfect opportunity to connect with friends and family or dial into your creative side.