Hypersensitive and Overwhelmed? My “Window Closed” Mode to Recharge My Energy
There are days when the outside world is too invasive for me. Too much noise, too many words, too many emotions that don't belong to me.
If you're hypersensitive, you probably know what I mean. And if you recognize yourself in these lines, this article is for you.
Hypersensitive: When I Pick Up Everything Except My Own Calm
I'm an empath. In other words, I pick up on other people's energies, emotions, and sensations, sometimes before they've even opened their mouths.
After trials that transformed me deeply, my empathy and my hypersensitivity took a leap. I feel it in my body, in my head, in my energy.
It causes a very particular kind of tiredness. Not physical fatigue. Not quite mental fatigue either. Emotional fatigue.
Before, I gritted my teeth and kept going. Now, I check my gauge.
And some days, it's in the red.
My “Window Closed” Mode
When my gauge is in the red, I haven't found a better option than withdrawing from the world. I switch to introvert mode, or “window closed” mode, as I sometimes call it, laughing.
I declare myself “temporarily unavailable,” like those websites under maintenance. I cut my interactions down to a bare-minimum service, like France's SNCF trains on a strike day.
It's not running away. It's protecting myself. Because any tiredness we ignore ends up growing, and weighing on mental health, then on health, period.
And I've learned something that changes everything: you can be around people without giving them access to you.
We already do it without thinking: in a store's checkout line, on public transit, with certain coworkers. The people are there, all around us. But no one can come in without our permission.
I don't judge those who complain a lot or who see mountains everywhere. I simply know that, for me, some atmospheres are too heavy. It's not that they're bad. It's that I'm sensitive. And the more I step away when I need to, the better I feel.
The Journaling Exercise: My Right to Withdraw
If, like me, you feel overwhelmed, or weighed down by emotions that don't belong to you, I invite you to try three simple steps for a few days.
Declare yourself temporarily unavailable. Cut your exchanges down to what's strictly necessary and give yourself quiet, without justifying yourself.
Notice what this right to withdraw changes in you: your energy, your mood, your sleep, your desire to come back to others.
Open your notebook, write down your observations and the decisions you're making to protect yourself in the future. Then answer this question:
What do I need to recharge, and what do I no longer let in?
This isn't about tidying yourself up just to go back and wade through the mud. It's about finding YOUR own arrangements, the ones that will prevent these phases of intense fatigue.
And above all, trust what you feel. Your tiredness is information, not a flaw. It's your inner voice speaking to you, and that's exactly October's theme.
The EstellyHappy Happiness Journal helps you rediscover the little joys that recharge you, one evening after another. And the EstellyHappy Success Journal lets you celebrate every time you've honored your need for quiet: it's a victory, and it counts.
Your life is limited in time. So learn how you work and take care of yourself by respecting it. It's your best way to savor it.
Thank you for reading me this far. I hope this sharing did you some good.
To never miss an article, subscribe to the Happy Newsletter. And to support your right to withdraw, the Happiness Journal and the Success Journal are waiting for you in the shop.
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