The False Sense of Urgency That’s Burning You Out

By Emily - Mindful Career Journey

In fast-paced industries, everything feels urgent. 

- The never-ending Slack/Teams pings

- The late night emails

- The “quick” meetings that eat up your day  

Here’s the truth: most things are NOT actually urgent (unless you work in the medical field and someone’s life is at risk)  

🔹 That email? It can wait until tomorrow.
🔹 That Slack or Teams message? It’s not a fire drill.
🔹 That project? It won’t collapse if you take a breath.

Yet, we treat every request as a must-do-right-now or the ASAP response when you ask when it’s needed. 

The result? 

Chronic Stress —> Burnout —> Exhaustion = Feeling of no matter how much you work, it’s never enough

Have you ever experienced that feeling?

If you’re constantly overwhelmed by urgency, ask yourself the following questions to get perspective:

✅ Is this truly time-sensitive, or just someone else’s priority?
✅ What’s the real consequence of waiting a few hours?
✅ Am I setting boundaries or letting others dictate my pace?

High performance does not equate to constant performance. The most successful professionals know how to differentiate real urgency from noise and protect their energy.

Your value isn’t in how quickly you respond. It’s in the impact you create.