No Rest for the...
Yesterday I hit a wall.
It wasn’t a solid brick wall, that left me bruised and battered. The consequences of hitting it were minimal with few disruptions. However, I’ve been going at full speed for months and with several trips on the horizon, I needed rest. After finishing a 90-minute meeting and a library book I realized that I just couldn’t pull off my usual productivity.
Productivity. That’s such an interesting concept. There are all sorts of writers (mostly dudes) out there who specialize in optimizing, maximizing, and hacking the time in our day to produce as much as possible, if not more. You can Pomodoro your way to efficiency, App your way to progress and Two-Minute Rule your way to a serene workspace. Every suggestion seems to be out there, except rest.
Rest refuels our bodies, and our minds. It allows us to replenish where we’re deficient, and can be whatever we need; whether it’s daydreaming, or staring blankly at a wall, sleeping, or strolling through a museum. The ability to put your to-do list on pause and do something restorative may seem like a luxury in our world, given work, family, and outside demands, but there is nothing like having a day (that’s not planned—like a weekend) where you merely rest. I call them Mental Health Days. Yesterday rest meant that I skipped my Pilates class, (which I’ve never done!) stayed in my PJs, crawled back into bed, read, napped, and ate too much. I woke up this morning energized (the sun was shining!) and determined to conquer my to-do list (which included posting on my Substack). What do you do to rest? Do you ever take a Mental Health Day? If not, would it sound like something you could fit into your life?