Note: This article is from Erin Falconer's blog, where she talks about her experience with rest and work.
This diet included a lot of protein, sugar, and grape juice. I also worked out in the best gyms daily, enjoyed Zumba and yoga classes, participated in a training camp, and practiced endurance exercises. Despite all this, I did not feel at ease and grew impatient for time to pass.
My morning routine consisted of listening to music, meditating, reading some chapters of various spiritual books, journaling exercises based on my Life Coach's recommendations, running, and yoga.
Then, I set a goal to arrive early to work every day so that I could organize and prepare lessons perfectly and of high quality and complete the work schedule on time. I would stay in the workplace after work in preparation for my online work project, which required me to reactivate it after a period of stagnation, by which I mean writing posts three days a week and posting at least once a day on Facebook, Linked In, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google +, in addition to writing ten comments daily on articles and various social media platforms.
I always started my projects with excessive enthusiasm that quickly dwindled, and I procrastinated despite my sincere intentions toward work.
Recently, I returned to eating various sweets and drinks that I abstained from in the evening and began to miss some sports classes at the beginning. Later, I abandoned them completely, including yoga and Zumba. In addition, I started waking up late to find myself rushing to work a little before the students, and in the end, I stopped working for a whole week.
For me, I think it was a spiral of withdrawal and retreat that made me lose everything I had succeeded in achieving, prompting me to ask for help from the coach, expecting her to guide me to take some small steps to help me get back on track and regain my strength and determination again because I thought procrastination was a negative thing. Still, the biggest surprise was that she told me, "Allow yourself to rest."
At that moment, I felt suspicious because I thought that if I allowed myself to relax and be lazy, I would continue this way and would not find the motivation to work on what I wanted to achieve. Still, it was different because this rest period allowed me to break free from internal pressure and realize what helped me get out of this state. My focus became directed toward my real needs and rediscovering my passion instead of being constantly busy with work and commitments.
The most important benefits you get when take a break
1. Rest, rejuvenation and revitalization
Self-development books often talk about motivation and encouragement to work without mentioning the importance of rest for a person. The excessive pressure from work stress caused me to gain weight, and I needed to rest on my mental and physical levels before starting again. Illness or procrastination occurs when we do not give ourselves enough rest, so the problem must be addressed at its root. I was tired and could not return to my activity and work until I took enough time to rest.
2. Knowing the real motives of actions and habits
When I stopped forcing myself to do some things, I could find out the real reason that led me to make some decisions. Is it my true desire or because I saw it as a duty? For example, following a diet based on protein and vegetables made me feel comfortable avoiding excessive sugar, but I had no interest in monitoring the scale daily. I discovered my tendencies for more powerful sports than Zumba or yoga, and I lost my desire to continue with the training camp.
I also found that I do not enjoy my work when it is stressful and fateful. As for meditation, it was fun for me, but not as much as I was trying to force myself to practice it daily. Many things we do because we think it is a duty that should not be neglected and not because of our actual desire, but a person should not continue to do something that does not benefit them or add to their life.
3. Rekindle the flame of enthusiasm and passion
We frequently believe that enjoying life and making progress cannot coexist. Still, during that time, I gave up things I didn't want and found enjoyable activities, for example, daily Zumba lessons at a reduced price. When I reduced the intensity of work on Facebook, I was able to enjoy the interaction of readers and their posts, in addition to interacting with my students in the time before the lesson and in the morning doing what I love, so I either sleep late or wake up to read a little before leaving.
Resting for a specific period allows us to discover ourselves, our true passion, and the things we love to do, so we don't need willpower or force ourselves to work.
4. Meeting individual needs easily and conveniently
A helpful routine can help develop our creative tools and skills and maximize our potential. Still, more importantly, our immediate needs are met through breaks that have allowed me to know what I need at every moment, whether going out for a run or a yoga session.
Now, I can determine when to work as hard as possible and when to relax, rest, and care about myself. Human needs and energy levels are constantly changing, and by adapting to the variables, we can avoid procrastination and maximize our potential.
5. Achieving an energy balance between work and rest
All my life, I had a very high energy that made me start any new project with so much enthusiasm that I lost the ability to sleep or think about something else and even forgot to eat. The situation collapsed, forcing me to rest for several weeks. I thought that this situation was normal for me, but when I decided to rest, many things changed; I no longer felt overzealous, and in return, the fatigue was less, and this situation was more stable and sustainable for me, and I felt comfortable to reduce the amount of work while taking enough rest every day.
In conclusion
The best thing you can do for your productivity and abilities is to stop working and take a break, but to move forward in life; procrastination must be recognized and dealt with.
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