We can’t just keep slogging on forever. It’s just not good for our creativity, our productivity. More importantly, it’s just not sustainable. We need to take a break, before we break. Therefore, take the time we need. So we can re-energise, rediscover our creativity, boost our productivity
Why We Neglect Ourselves
It’s really easy to neglect ourselves; focus on work, on our business, on our clients, to our own detriment. Especially now. The economy is struggling, as are our clients. Job security seems in short supply. We can’t miss an opportunity. We’ve got to keep working, hard. But, to keep pushing is not sustainable. Always catching up on work is going to catch with us
We Can’t Keep Going Forever
As too many sports people are aware, there’s a phenomenon called over-training. A perplexing situation where the harder we train, the worse our performance gets. It’s a consequence of pushing too hard, too often, not enough rest. Ignoring the first signs can lead to a complete breakdown in physical performance. For which the only cure is to stop. Completely. For weeks
Our minds are not much different to our muscles in this respect. That’s to say, we need to push ourselves, try new ways of doing things, to learn. But to really develop, we need rest. Likewise, skipping rest leads to fatigue, which makes it difficult to absorb new information. Tiredness causes mistakes, which means more work. Most importantly, this road leads to stress and burnout. It’s a road we need to get off, before it’s too late
Unlike our muscles, we can’t simply sit down to give our mind a rest. To rest our mind, we need to switch it off. Or, at least focus our attention on something different
How to Switch Off
Of course, it’s going to be different for everyone. The best way is to indulge in something that we really enjoy, makes us feel good, makes us happy. In other words, something that engages us, absorbs us, so that work can’t invade our thoughts
I rarely miss an opportunity to share my love of open water swimming (yes, that’s me in the picture). However, we don’t need to don neoprene and plunge into cold water to switch off. Art, playing music, a lively debate, exercise, dance, cookery, reading, writing. Anything, as long as it gives us pleasure, diverts our thoughts from work
Take the Opportunity
In summary, we need to take a break, before we break. To switch off we need to become completely absorbed in something other than work. We then come back re-energised, reinvigorated, more productive, more creative
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