The answer to being more productive may not be more work.
It may be rest.
I know the value of hard work: and I really enjoy it. I love being a business owner and I’m even grateful for finding the line between business and personal to be rather blurry. That’s ok by me.
There are seasons of life and business where you have to push. Work harder. Stay up late. Put in the extra hours.
But as a pattern of life, that will not work.
It will let you down.
If you don’t take times of rest, your body will make you do it.
And when that happens, your enforced rest won’t be as pleasant or well organised as it could have been. Instead, it interrupts your plans because you pushed too hard, did too much, didn’t listen, didn’t rest. It’s a penalty, not a reward.
Since today I’m up in the Scottish highlands, to slow down and look around and enjoy beauty and take a break, instead of a longer written post I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on rest via a podcast.
I was asked last week to be the guest on a podcast, as its owner was fascinated by my perspective on rest.
We talk about….
- why it’s one of the four PF pillars and why (and how) I encourage my team to rest
- Why it’s so important to me personally (personal beliefs and an auto immune disorder)
- Why we resist rest
- What we need to face up to when we do, finally, take rest
…and loads more. We packed it into a half hour podcast, so have a listen at the weekend:
Improving profitability with rest: Happy healthy workplace podcast
What I’d love to hear from you today is:
What do you find challenging about the concept of resting? Was there a time in your life you resisted rest, and had to pay a price? (Are you doing it now?)
P.S. I borrowed the idea for today’s sketchnote from Carl Richards. Matter of fact I also borrowed from him the entire idea of writing a note-with-sketch-every-week. Check out his post on rest, too.
I send these tips and sketchnotes out every Saturday! Sign up to get them here.