Most of the humans I know thrive on feeling productive.
No matter what kind of paid work they do or don’t do, they also find time for plenty of other projects.
They set themselves challenges for all sorts of things – finding geocaches, knitting a certain amount every month, reading as many books as they can, learning languages on Duolingo, exercising, meditating, writing novels or blog posts, producing podcasts, sending out newsletters – the list goes on and on.
And all that is great! I love that the humans I know are all so creative and dedicated to achieving things they enjoy or feel are important. As long as the goals you set are motivating and spring from a place of positive choice, I encourage all of you to spend time working towards them and taking satisfaction from your progress.
But I often see a downside to all this importance placed on productivity. Sometimes, it can lead to people feeling as if they’re failing, if they don’t keep up with the goals they’ve set.
I’m here to tell you that not only is rest vitally important, it’s also highly productive!
Taking time off to rest and restore yourself is the only way you can maintain your progress towards your goals in the long run. If you push yourself too hard, the likely result will be that you burn out and give up on your projects, all the while feeling miserable and berating yourself for not managing to complete them.
However, if you make sure to spend time every week letting go of the to-do list and taking a break, you will be able to sustain your creative and other types of pursuits much more manageably and you won’t start to resent them or start seeing them as chores.
My human, Annie, often decides to take a whole day out of the week as a ‘day off’, where she allows herself to do whatever she likes, even if it’s nothing at all! And she usually finds that’s the day when she gets most done, because she’s choosing how to spend her time, rather than tying herself down to self-imposed deadlines. But, if she actually spends the whole day watching YouTube or snoozing on the sofa, that’s absolutely fine too – it has to be, or the concept of ‘taking the day off’ doesn’t work.
So, if you’re feeling stressed out and overwhelmed by all the projects you really want to get on with, consider taking some time out just to relax and I guarantee you’ll feel more motivated when you get back to your usual schedule afterwards.
Why don’t you give it a try?
Let me know how you get on, or if there’s anything in your life you’d like my thoughts on!
You can email me at wisebearstanley@gmail.com
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