The More You Sleep, The More Productive You Are
“Work hard, never stop, and persevere” – Does this sound familiar to you?
I often see people standing behind this idea where clocking in long hours, being way too busy to eat, barely sleeping equates to being successful. It’s as if those who get 8 hours of sleep are not pushing themselves hard enough towards success.
Disclaimer: I am referring to people who can control their working hours such as freelancers or entrepreneurs.
However, could taking time to rest/prioritizing sleep improve work efficiency and success? Absolutely.
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang wrote an entire book on the importance of work-life balance and explains that quality rest is a prerequisite in order for work to work. (Book: Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less).
Basecamp conducted an experiment and found that adding an additional day to the weekend helped improve employee’s productivity. They found that their employees got the same amount of work done in four days versus five (Jason Fried, 2008).
By prioritising your rest, you’re prioritising your work and your success. A rested mind and body will show up to theoffice more energised, focused, and ready to tackle challenges. Higher energy and focus level equate to higher productivity!
It is also important to rest during the day. A momentarily pause and rest leads to clarity on the big picture.
Instead of equating long hours to working hard, make sure you’re working in the right direction.
Andrew Thomas, an entrepreneur, adviser, speaker states, “What’s the point of [working your butt off] if you’re going in the wrong direction?” Countless people are working tirelessly to complete tasks given to them, but they do not know if they’re on track to their desired goals.
These four questions sharpen the clarity of a goal:
– Are we spending time and energy on what matters?
– Does completing the current task bring us closer to our goal?
– What should we be doing more to improve the result?- What is not working and how should we be doing itdifferently?
Ask yourself these questions throughout the day to remind and get yourself back on track!
How can I ensure that my rest is restorative?
There are three section of resting that must occur simultaneously to ensure restorative rest. You must restore the mind, body, and soul.
How I Rest My Mind
One the best ways to rest your mind is through meditation. Personally I find it the most helpful when done in the morning, before I start my day. Meditating throughout the day when feeling anxious or uneasy could also give one a necessary boost!
Kobe Bryant meditates 10-15 minutes every day in the morning just before his day begins. He claims that meditation calms him and prepares him for any challenge that comes his way throughout the day. Meditating in the morning allows me to set my intentions for the day. I found it very helpful to follow guided meditations and it is recommended for beginners.
Check out Goodful meditation videos on Youtube. I genuinely love their content! (@Goodful)
How I Rest My Body
Sleep enough
If you’re suffering from body aches such as neck stiffness, headaches, or low energy, chances are you’re not getting enough sleep. How you feel about yourself directly relates to your productivity at work. If you’re naturally more energetic, you get more work done.
Eat Cleaner
You don’t have to cut down on all sugars or carbs, just be sure to fuel your body with lots of water and gravitate towards healthier/cleaner snacks throughout the day.
Move Your Body
If you’re always feeling lethargic, go do some exercise. You don’t need to lift weights or workout for a long period of time. Start small, doing a few sets of push-up or simply go on a 10minute walk. It makes such a big difference!
How I Rest My Soul
Do activities that bring you joy. Whether it’s reading, listening to music, walking your dog, grabbing dinner with a close friend, set out some time to do whatever you want.
Another common strategy I implement into my daily routine is scaling my rest time. Instead of taking rest in bulk in the weekends, set “rest-goals” every day, week, month, and year.
Here is my resting scale:
– Every 45 minutes of work, I take a 10 to 15-minute rest. This is a common technique used by students, professionals, and doctors.
– Every day, I get a 1-hour lunch break with friends and get off work at 5:00 pm. (Usually, I eat while I work. Hence, eating out with friends is a good outlet for me to relax and rest.)
– Every weekend, I spend the entire morning taking the dogs out for a walk and attend my volleyball trainings. (These are my hobbies)
– Every month, I would request a day-off from work to relax and reassess my productivity, priorities, what I ate, and energy levels. (Excluding weekend holidays)
– Every year, I would like to take 7-14 days off work to travel. Under the Covid-19 restrictions, I am accruing more holidays to use in the future.
Through this simple and quick article describing the importance of rest, I hope you learned a thing or two. I challenge you to implement a “resting-scale” into your working routine, I have included a template on my Instagram (@Leinvests) if you want to make your own resting scale as well. I promise it will make a significant improvement in your performance.
I would love to hear what your resting routine is like! Leave a comment down below or can find me on Instagram (@Leinvests)