Why Taking a Break Creates Success
Why relaxation creates success. You heard me. Relax. But everyone touts "Rise and Grind."
Embracing relaxation is a wonderful way to spend your life energy. Not to mention getting those creative juices going just by changing the scene.
Don't Follow the (M)asses
“If everyone jumped off a bridge would you?”
Your mother was right. Just because everyone is all about the rise and grind, doesn't mean you should do it too. I'm not saying be lazy. I am just saying that some people want to rise and grind. Every. Single. Day. I'm just not one of them. I have bursts of energy and times where I do better with more relaxing activities. That doesn't mean that I am lazy. If you are like that, it doesn't necessarily mean you are lazy either. I have learned to respect my body and to listen to it. Many people would be better off if they did too.
Friday Naps
As a single mother of two children while holding down a full time job and studying for a national board exam, time was precious. I like a clean home, so that I can focus. I was raised where family dinners occurred nightly. It was homemade about 98% of the time. We would eat at a restaurant maybe once a month. Needless to say, this is how I choose to raise my children, with homemade dinners that are nutritious. Anyone who is the cook for their family, knows how much time and energy goes into meal planning, shopping, cooking and cleaning up.
"I had way more energy and could work more efficiently for the rest of the day.”
Once the kids were at school on Thursdays and Fridays, I'd work my biscuits off. I kid you not. I was dressed and ready to go to the market and complete shopping, start laundry and begin meal prep and cooking. Time to strip the beds and wash sheets and towels. Sweep and mop. Get as much done as humanly possible before they came home from school and began to ebb away at my hard work. Many weeks on Fridays, I'd be exhausted. Heck I am exhausted writing about it. (My fingers hurt!) Not really, but you get what I mean. Usually by 10 am on Friday, I was so tired, I was ready for a nap. For months, maybe even a year or two, I pushed through that time and kept on working. Until one day.
One day, I decided to set an alarm on my cell phone (after silencing the ringer) for 45 minutes. Sleep experts say a 30 minute nap is ideal for rest and won't interfere with your circadian rhythm. Figuring it may take 10-15 minutes to fall asleep, 45 minutes sounded reasonable. Down I went, like a 150 foot old-growth cedar found by a old school logger. When the alarm went off, I didn't spring from my bed. Rather, I stretched and enjoyed the cushy feeling of my bed, and the quiet of the house without children yelling, "Mom!" Once up, and back to my daily (self imposed) duties, I discovered that I accomplished more when rested, rather than pushing through without a nap. Not only that but....I was happier and calmer than all of the other days when I had worked through my fatigue.
