Rest IS Productive!
We live in a culture where taking breaks isn’t allowed. This comes from the Industrial Revolution and slavery: both economic structures where the business owners profit only when workers or slaves are working and lose profit when these workers and slaves were resting.
There are many productivity books out there (Scrum being the first one to come to mind) that talk about the importance of happiness and the detrimental effects of stress and disorganization and disenfranchisement. We’re more productive when we’re happy, not stressed out, organized, and empowered.
We’re more productive when we’re happy, not stressed out, organized, and empowered.
I’ve started trying to schedule downtime into my weekly routine, and extra recuperation time after major events (such as conferences). I’m not great at this, especially since I hyper-focus on whatever task I’m working on and often lose track of time.
However, taking the time to rest — to re-energize, to unwind, to de-stress — is an act of productivity.
Have you noticed that you’re less organized and perform even routine tasks slower and with greater difficulty when you’re tired and stressed? I have. When I’m tired, stressed, or anxious, I drop things, I forget things, I eat foods that are bad for me because it…
