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Osnaživanje, stil i inspiracija spajaju se u svakom izdanju našeg magazina.
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January 3, 2026
Let’s pause for a moment. Is your jaw clenched? Is your breathing shallow? Do you feel restless?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, it may be time to face an uncomfortable truth: your life pace is too fast.
In today’s accelerated world, psychologists argue that the ability to regulate one’s personal pace can be crucial for mental health. Adrenal fatigue, headaches, and gastrointestinal issues are just some of the physical manifestations of the chronic stress we live with. Learning how to determine and respect our own pace is precisely the skill that helps us move through stress with fewer consequences. Personal pacing is a growing trend that offers exactly that.
In the era of burnout and hustle culture, doing things at your own pace is no longer optional — it is essential. It is the only way to prevent exhaustion, energy loss, chronic fatigue, and emotional numbness while still remaining effective and committed to your goals. For women, whose lives are often marked by constant professional proving and invisible labor in their private lives, mastering personal pacing is even more important.
Personal pacing refers to techniques that help us build a sustainable rhythm of living. But what does that actually mean?
A sustainable pace is one that allows you to achieve your goals without sacrificing your health in the process. The idea is to work effectively, with focus and strength, while still having enough energy left to experience pleasure, enjoy your personal life, and recover quickly from demanding activities. Think of your energy as a battery: a sustainable pace means plugging yourself back into the charger — stopping activities — when you still have 10 to 15 percent left.
In theory, each of us should know what we can do, how much, and how fast. In reality, we often overestimate our capacity or knowingly impose an unsustainable pace on our bodies. How do we break this cycle and find a pace that truly works long term?
The first step is creating an energy map. Instead of checking off to-do lists, spend a week noting the moments when tasks felt easy, when your focus was strong, when your body recovered quickly after effort, and when you felt energized rather than depleted. These moments indicate that you were operating at the right pace. Look back and identify the balance between activity and rest on those days.
The second step is the sustainability test. No complicated metrics are needed — just one honest question: Could I live at this pace for the next six months without my motivation dropping?
If you’re unsure, that’s already your answer. The pace is wrong. Slow down.
The third key principle of personal pacing is to track recovery, not exhaustion. Ask yourself: How long does it take me to return to balance?
If your recovery fits comfortably within your available free time, you’ve likely found a sustainable pace. If recovery spills beyond it, your pace needs adjustment.
Psychologists agree that neither an overly fast nor an overly slow pace supports mental well-being. Too little stimulation leads to boredom; too much leads to burnout. As in many areas of life, sustainability lies in balance.
This is not simple, but it is effective. First, determine how much time you need to complete a task well without excessive strain. Then consider the realistic expectations placed on you. Where these two time frames overlap, you’ll find the pace that meets external demands while respecting your internal needs.
Large goals often push us to operate at maximum capacity for too long, which eventually undermines productivity. Breaking goals into smaller tasks helps distribute energy more evenly. It also provides perspective, allowing you to adjust your vision and strategy based on real feedback from the process.
There are moments when stepping back is not a failure but a skill. If a task requires speed or abilities you don’t have, delegate it. You’ll save time and energy — and the outcome is often better.
Breaks are especially important during high-risk, demanding, or exhausting activities. A pause allows you to reassess the situation, your impulses, and your behavior, and then apply the pacing strategy that best fits the moment.
Unrealistic standards and faulty comparisons are deeply damaging. None of us lives under the same conditions — and we are not even the same person we were a decade ago. If you need benchmarks, compare yourself to your own past results, ideally within the last one to two years.
Photo: Dupephotos.com
