Today is Sunday, and a great day to remember that one of the best ways to take action in life is to also set aside downtime. My quote today is a from a friend, Ted Sanborn, who said, “The human body is not made to work seven days a week non-stop.”
Do you work every day of the week? If you are a parent or caregiver, your answer is probably “yes.” At the same time, we all need some time away from our regular responsibilities in order to recharge our batteries, physically rest, allow our minds to wander, and pursue non work-related endeavors.
For many, the work week runs Monday through Friday. If this is your schedule, choose a day over the weekend (or part of a day, if this is all you can carve out), to step away from whatever the demands of your job may be and invest in yourself. If your schedule requires you to work other days, try to find another day each week that you set aside for this purpose.
What might you do during your “rest day?” Lots of things, including (but certainly not limited to):
- Going outside (walk, ski, jog, skate, play, ride…)
- Cooking or baking
- Working with your hands (woodworking, gardening, knitting, crafting, painting, drawing…)
- Visiting (Remember visiting? when you sat and talked with people, in person, with no agenda?)
- Indulging (spa, sauna, manicure, massage…)
- Sitting by a lit fireplace
- Reading
- Writing letters
- Spectating at a game
- Playing board games
- Listening to music
- Attending a concert
- Constructing something (Legos, blocks, dominos, clay…)
- Praying, meditating, attending a worship service
- Visiting a museum
- Dancing
- Giving yourself a day off from an unpleasant task (e.g. don’t make your bed)
- Completing a jigsaw, sudoku, or crossword puzzle
The key to relaxation is to do something that doesn’t feel like work to you; to take a break. One man’s rest is another man’s work, so customize your downtime to meet your desires. If you have little ones and never get a break, see if you can hire a sitter or trade parenting duties with your partner or friends in a similar stage.
Also, consider doing something that does not involve a screen. Give your brain a break from screens. Let yourself be bored and see what happens.
Taking time to rest and refresh each week will enhance your ability to be productive the rest of the time.
How might you carve out time to rest?
Can you hear me applauding, Seana? I’m a firm believer in working and playing hard. As a solopreneur, and even with the changing workplace where so many people are working remotely, it’s possible to work 24/7. Not that we want to, but the dynamic is such where we could. So drawing those boundaries is essential.
For me, I balance work and play/relaxation on a daily basis. On the weekends, I might have a portion or a good part of those days when I’m not working, but I often am doing some work. For example, Sunday is typically my writing day. While technically it’s ‘work,’ I enjoy it so much that it doesn’t feel like work. I will balance writing time with taking walks in the woods or by the rivers. And yesterday, I did some baking, which I really loved. It had been a while.
Sounds like you have really thought this one through, Linda. That’s the necessary first step; making intentional decisions about how we want to use the time we have, rather than simply react to external demands and stimuli. When my girls were little, I set aside Sundays as the day when they didn’t have to make their beds, and we would have something sweet for breakfast. I wanted them to warm to the ideas that we need to choose balance, even fight for it when necessary.
I like being outside as well. It is restorative and refreshing. That said, winter isn’t my favorite season, and I tend to huddle inside with a book or doing a craft. 🙂
This quote is a great reminder for us all! I stopped seeing clients on Sundays a few years ago and never looked back. I do need to work on my downtime not involving screens though! Loving these quotes, Seana 🙂
Sarah Soboleski recently posted…GO Month: Mental Clutter – G
I definitely try and avoid work related things on Sundays. Or at least, one day a week. It doesn’t always work as I plan, but I have made a few changes like you did to try and and give myself “permission” to be off duty.
This really resonated with me, Seana. I’ve had to learn to consciously plan when and what I’m going to do that’s not work-related, because it’s so tempting to just keep going. But when I take time off, I’m amazed how hard my “back burner” has been working while I’m, away. It’s almost like doing something different frees it up to get to work.
Lucy Kelly recently posted…10 ways to reward yourself for decluttering and organizing
Yes, I love the way you described this. That old “back burner” is getting things done without hardly any focus on our part, which is just amazing to me!