How to survive in a time when everything is fast, complex, and never-ending?
“Multitasking today means eating lunch while Googling or asking GPT how to survive my life. Because our typical day resembles the folk creativity of supermarket flyers – colorful, overloaded, and above all, always something on sale (or in action).”
It’s not just work. It’s everything around it.
Maybe you work hard. Maybe a lot. Maybe too much.
But even when you try to rest – it doesn’t work. The fatigue, irritability, inner emptiness, or emotional numbness don’t go away. And worse: your personal life is slowly falling apart. Relationships, health, purpose.
This isn’t just work exhaustion.
This is chronic overload – a mix of pressure from your job and the world we live in.
The problem: Overload doesn’t end when work does.
At first glance, it seems simple – demanding work is to blame. And often, that’s true. My clients tell me:
“I manage everything, but I don’t feel anything.”
“At work I’m still holding it together, but at home I’ve got nothing left.”
“I run to work to escape my family – and meanwhile, my personal life is falling apart.”
But when we look deeper, another, more hidden source of pressure appears: the era we live in itself.
The pressure of the times on our psyche
“Back then, you went to buy bread. Today, you check in a grocery app whether you’re intolerant to emulsifier E471.”
I’m a therapist and coach. But I was also an entrepreneur and manager – and I carried chronic stress for a long time.
What fascinates me is how overload is changing today. It’s no longer just about work. Now it’s about how many decisions and tasks everyday life demands from us.
In the store, you choose from dozens of brands and options. Yogurt? Dozens of flavors. Butter? Salted, unsalted, organic, ghee, plant-based.
You assemble the furniture yourself, pay at the self-checkout, and fill out complaint forms on websites where companies hide from you.
You search for information and compare on your own – tariffs, trips, kindergartens, strollers, mattresses, coffee machine filters…
Every decision – what to study, who to be with, where to go, what to watch – is overloaded with options. And instead of freedom comes fatigue. Instead of joy, numbness.
Add social media to that. Notifications. An endless stream of stimuli. Until your brain physically aches from it.
Then the weekend comes – and you just keep evaluating what you “should have” or “didn’t manage to.”
Summary: A time that won’t let us catch our breath
It’s not a small thing. It’s not weakness. This is a long-term lifestyle that drains us:
Constantly switching attention
Endless decision-making
Pressure to get everything right
Constant availability, awareness, and readiness
Even when work hours end, life keeps going at the same pace. And that pace is often unnatural for the human mind.
Solution: Not just a change of job. A change in your relationship with life.
“You don’t have to manage everything. It’s enough to notice what is overloading you. You won’t save the world. But maybe you can save your nervous system. You can’t step out of overload by pushing harder. But you can step out of it by deciding to.”
Change is possible. But it’s not enough to simply adjust your work routine. Chronic overload also relates to how we live outside of work.
What helps, in my opinion:
Admit that something is wrong. Stop convincing yourself that “it just is the way it is.”
Set boundaries. Not just with colleagues, but also with notifications, social media, and all those “small demands” that add up.
Build an identity beyond performance. A place where I can say, “I am completely OK” — even when I’m doing nothing at all.
Restore a rhythm. One in which both body and soul have a chance to regenerate.
For a long time, I believed it was enough to just cut back. Fewer meetings, fewer obligations, less noise.
But then I realized that if I truly want to regenerate or be capable of deep work, it won’t happen on its own.
I had to start treating it as a discipline. Very consciously—and often with a good dose of willpower—I began creating an environment where nothing disturbs me. I also deliberately avoided the pressure of today’s world. The quiet but persistent pressure: decide, respond, don’t miss out, don’t fall behind.
Today I know that restoring capacity is not a passive process. It needs space. It needs protection. And above all, it needs a decision. And because I know how hard it can be, I decided to share my tools and tricks—in upcoming articles and videos.
I’ll share what specifically helps me step by step—and maybe you’ll find something useful for yourself, too. In the next articles, I’ll talk about how I create calm even in the middle of a busy week. It won’t be about perfection, but about small steps that make a big difference. Because even in an overloaded time, we don’t have to stop caring about what’s healthy for us.
What’s next?
In the next episodes, we’ll look at specific strategies for how to:
Not losing yourself in the pressure of the times
Staying afloat without burning out
Building capacity, relationships, and meaning—even in a fast-paced world
This whole journey begins with a single step: a conscious decision to live differently.
If this has caught your interest
Check out the other articles or episodes. Maybe you’ll find something in them that finally helps you feel a little better.
A small note to finish
This article is not a substitute for professional help. I do not intend to downplay mental health issues or diagnoses such as depression, anxiety, burnout, or other mental disorders. If any of these apply to you or if you have doubts, I recommend contacting a psychotherapist, psychiatrist, or another specialist.
What I describe here as chronic overload is not a medical diagnosis. It is a description of the pressure that arises from the way we live today and how we treat ourselves.
I offer this framework as inspiration and a tool for self-reflection—not as a treatment.