Welcome to Downshifting: Musings on Burnout, Culture, Mental Health and More
Mentally, shouldn’t we all be here?
Downshift: verb
down·shift ˈdau̇n-ˌshift
1: to shift an automotive vehicle into a lower gear
2: to move or shift to a lower level (as of speed, activity, or intensity)
I want to be honest; the title of this blog is as aspirational for me as it is for you. I long to downshift, or perhaps more accurate, I long to long to downshift. I feel it in my bones that slowing down and being more present is right for me — yet I’ve internalized hustle culture in ways that put me in conflict with myself when I try to take my own advice.
I’ve been grateful for the small but engaged Instagram community that I’ve been building in recent years; folks from all walks of life who are interested, at least somewhat, in ideas on how to slowdown, prevent burnout, validate their experiences, and feel better. I eventually reailzed that cute videos and short captions are limiting, and as a talker, I knew I had so much more to say. Perhaps more than that, I wrapped yet another year of working with a wide range of clients, all of whom at some point mentioned feeling overwhelmed, overworked and depleted.
Are we all beginning a new year feeling wrung out? Does anybody actually know how to slow down, or are we all just pretending, performing, posting cozy pictures of reading by the fire when our brain is everywhere but here?
I’d like to downshift, and I think you would too. But in a society whose values are psychologically and economically shaped by capitalism, we are socialized to believe that our self-worth rests in our output, our productivity, and our ability to commodify our creations. It’s not surprising that this and other pressures have made it hard to feel good about slowing down.
“Downshifting” is my somewhat clunky but thoughtful and deeply human attempt to wrestle with questions on how we slow down in a culture that demands us to speed up. As a clinical psychologist, I hope to integrate research and expertise based ideas into this conversation. As a lifelong overfunctioner, I hope to learn while I teach, because we’re in this together.
Downshifting will be posted every two weeks with musings on burnout, culture, mental health and more. I’ll include actionable strategies on how to check in on your pace and practice slowing down, and maybe some links and resources with a dash of dry humor on top.
This is a space to question the pace we’ve inherited — and to imagine something kinder.