Taking a Break
Slow down, be intentional, and rest
Society gives us so much agency to push forward, to do more, to learn endlessly; but why doesn’t it allow us to stop or slow down? I was reminded of this while reading Recapping Recharge Week, by David Hoang. He scheduled a week off just to recuperate and recharge. Why do we need to go out of our way to do this, use up PTO, and celebrate it as an achievement? I think what David did was great and applaud him for taking the time, then write about it – but why is it needed to begin with?
The world we have created for ourselves requires so much from us. Between work and social obligations, there is no time for ourselves to really take a break. We need to be “on”, “doing”, and “making”. Why is relaxing or unplugging not rewarded?
This past week has marked one year since I quit my day job. I have talked about this before, at length. What is still top of mind – is the issue I have with stopping or slowing down.
Since quitting my job, I have made a docu-series, freelanced, and now consult. It has been rewarding to do what I want – for myself, but throughout all of this, I have found it harder than ever to rest. If I am not working on a project, I am usually learning something to get better as a storyteller. I love self-improvement, but it’s also exhausting.
Is it just me or do you have an endless task list? Mine consists of writing this letter, writing my other letter, tasks for my consulting work, and other projects or goals I have. My average day consists of 20-30 tasks. If I don’t get them finished – I don’t feel accomplished.
There is this constant feeling that if I don’t keep doing or keep learning that I will be left behind, forgotten. We live in such a fast world, that it feels like we need to take part and contribute to play the game at a meaningful level. Being left behind feels like losing.
My biggest issue is that since quitting my day job, I feel that I have an opportunity to become someone, to be seen for my abilities, and I cannot squander it. I need to be persistent so I can see and do what I want at a high impacting level. Isn’t slowing down squandering it?
I know this sounds like a letter to vent and whine, but that’s not the point. The point is for me to share my thoughts in this hustle economy. I have burnt out in the past and I am not trying to do that again. It’s hard to balance though. I love to do what I do, but we are expected to do it at such a high velocity, that it’s hard to sustain. I hope that these thoughts and feelings above, prove that you are not alone in the way you feel. A lot of us feel this way, most are just afraid to admit it.
So how do we find a happy medium? How do we make our impact, while staying in one piece?
Slow down
Try not to do too much, too fast. Do what you can, when you can. Don’t shoot for your moonshot goal, work on smaller, more noticeable ones. This will give you the agency to take breaks when you see rewards for your actions.
Be intentional
Think about the work you are setting out to do. Make sure that it is adding up to your goal. When you select your smaller, additive, goals – be sure to think about them strategically. Don’t diverge too much, as it will make it feel like you are not achieving what you really want.
Do less busy work
A lot of doing your own thing, be it freelance or otherwise, you have to juggle a lot of menial tasks. This is part of the gig. But don’t do work just to fill time. If you are done with your tasks for the day/ week, walk away! Don’t find some spreadsheet to fill out or email to read for the umpteenth time.
Do more impactful work
Do something, daily or weekly, that will make a noticeable impact on your goal. It can impact a short-term goal or a very long-term one but do higher impact work first. If the small stuff falls through the cracks, that is ok, just don’t let the big stuff slip through.
Rest regularly
This might be daily, weekly, or monthly; but put it all down. Don’t actively work on your projects/ goals. Yes, thoughts and ideas will come flooding in while you are resting. It will feel compelling to do the work as soon as it bubbles up, but you need to resist. Write these thoughts down, add them to your task list, but do not act on them. Covet rest, it will make you reach your goals faster!
Don’t over-optimize
We try to make everything perfect, smooth, and automated. It doesn’t have to be. We can do something more than once. It’s ok to deliver a rough version. Don’t always seek perfection, because it is not always found.
These points above are as much for me as they are for you. It’s that time of year when we lose footing on our hamster wheel. Use these points as a self-reflection, a reset.
I plan on doing this by taking on less busy work.
I also plan to lessen my digital distractions
Focus on fewer social networks – putting my Instagram on pause. This way I can deepen relationships on Twitter.
Refine some tools for thought
I recently started using Obsidian for deep thinking and knowledge management and love using it.
By refining my tools, I will have to look at fewer places to gather my thoughts and act upon them.
Notion isn’t scaling well for my style of neurodiversity, it is causing me to over-engineer things.
Additionally, I plan to disconnect and rest more.
You might not feel this way at all, which is great! Do whatever works for you. But if you want to hear other opinions on this topic – Damien and Cali left some great thoughts on this week’s thread! If you want to share your thoughts on this topic, feel free to drop them in the comments or by replying to this email.
Over the coming weeks, I plan on creating a series about minimalism and one about remote work. Do you have any burning thoughts or topics you want me to cover about these subjects? Let me know in the comments or by replying to this email.