We just wrapped up another iteration of PUSH UX Conference last week. It’s a massive undertaking and the week of the event is usually one big fire drill, where I and the rest of the team have to react to whatever we get confronted with. When the conference is over, it’s a startling sensation when there are suddenly no more emergencies and no more fires to put out.
It’s a disorientating feeling. My mind and body feel like there must be something going on, that there must be something that I’m forgetting. But there isn’t. It usually takes me anywhere between a week and a month to get out of that mode.
What is interesting is that obsessive (social) media consumption tends to have the same effect on me. I get into a state where I constantly anticipate something blowing up. Not because I want to, but because I can’t help it.
In my experience, the only way to get out of this habit of hyper-alertness is complete disconnection. All communication channels are turned off for a while, reading is ideally limited to fiction, and the phone stays in a drawer all day.
I’ve just had two days of this reset and finally feel like a person again.