Last Sunday night, I closed my laptop with a sense of accomplishment, having finished a reflective piece about realizing I wasn't Superman. I went to sleep peacefully, ready for the week.
By Monday morning, reality hit. A simple plan to drop my son at school and head to the office turned into a ninety-minute battle with Istanbul traffic. After squeezing in a workout and facing more gridlock, I made the executive decision to work from home on Tuesday.
Your thinking method is broken.' Sometimes it takes a hard truth from a mentor to realize that slowing down is the only way to speed up."
Tuesday felt deceptively productive. I was clearing my inbox at rapid speed, feeling on top of operations. In the middle of this "efficiency high," I was exchanging emails with my mentor regarding a business matter. Immediately after my last email, my phone rang. It was him.
His feedback was surgically precise and startling:
"Your thinking method is broken. You need to take leave immediately. Increase your daily walking and work in a bright environment where you can get sunlight."
I was stunned. He then calmly explained the deductive reasoning behind his conclusion based on our recent communications. I realized my fatigue was no longer just a physical feeling; it was leaking into my cognitive processes and external communication.
I took his advice as a directive. That evening, I skipped professional development podcasts. Instead, I put on some low-engagement music and walked by the coast, solely focused on cognitive disengagement.
The Ripple Effect of Radical Feedback
By Wednesday, his words still echoed. Every incoming email felt like another brick on a cognitive load I was struggling to prioritize. I knew I had to disrupt my patterns. Despite having my gym gear at the office, I opted to leave early and walk with my wife instead.
On Thursday, rather than driving to our corporate New Year's dinner on autopilot, I forced a routine change. I took public transport across continents—from Üsküdar to Beşiktaş by ferry—followed by a 45-minute walk along the Bosphorus. It was a necessary reset, forcing me to consider how I could engineer similar "pattern interrupts" into my weekends and year-end planning.
Designing a Sustainable Future
With my birthday and the approach of 2026 looming, facing the reality of burnout has triggered a deeper audit of my professional life. What needs to be eliminated? What needs to be integrated?
This past Saturday, I ran a pilot test. Halfway to the mall with my family, I realized I had left my phone in the car. I made a conscious choice not to turn back. I needed to sever the connection with my "electronic shackle."
As I write this on a Sunday afternoon, I am actively researching hotels with indoor pools for a solo weekend retreat—not just for a vacation, but for a strategic cognitive restart.
In discussing this recent wake-up call with peers and colleagues, I’ve noticed a troubling consensus: many of us are operating at an unsustainable pace. While knowing others share the struggle doesn't solve the problem, recognizing that we are not alone in this challenge is the first step toward collective resilience.
We aren't Superman. And perhaps, the most professional thing we can do is admit that and adjust our strategies accordingly.
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