The Importance of Rest
The holiday season is here. And many of us get to take time off from work. But how many of us are carving out time to actually rest? It can be so easy to let our calendars fill up with good and life-giving events, surrounded by family and friends—but it’s so important to find time to recharge as well. Some people are truly filled back up when they spend time with loved ones; and some are filled back up when they have time alone. Only you can determine what you need to experience true rest.
In this article, we cover the importance of rest and why it’s essential for healthy self-leadership both at work and at home. We have three recommendations for you to consider as you find time away from the office this holiday season.
Why Rest Matters to Self-Leadership
Your brain needs a break from focusing. A purposeful break can increase your ability to focus, and therefore, your productivity. And if you struggle with knowing when to take a break, the Pomodoro Technique could be a helpful tool for you. Developed by Francesco Cirillo, this time-management method encourages you to set a timer for a task or project, and when the buzzer sounds, you take a short break. This helps you cultivate short yet productive blocks of focused work time. So, if research shows that a short break helps with focus, imagine how a true and unplugged break from work could help.
Your body needs a chance to recover. You’ve got to give yourself time to repair—mentally and physically. Begin to view rest as a necessary component of your overall health and well-being; and if finding time to rest is difficult for you, then add it to your calendar, just as you would an appointment, event, or errand. Athletes take rest days because of the health benefits, so why don’t leaders in the business world?
Your energy levels need to be refilled. We could get scientific here and discuss nutrition and exercise—but we’re taking a more conceptual approach. What we mean by “energy levels” are those things that keep you engaged and interested in work and life. Because if you’re not setting aside time for the activities that fill you up, then you’ll quickly head toward burnout. And healthy self-leadership is when you create boundaries around work and life; and protect those boundaries.
3 Tips to Help You Recharge this Holiday Season
Pay off your sleep debt. Most adults need 7-8 hours of sleep a day. So, if you miss a few hours throughout the week, you accumulate a sleep debt. We probably all have sleep debts—but why don’t we allow ourselves to pay them off? Well, the hustle culture is unfortunately often glorified (in the United States at least) which makes people feel like they have to work longer days to get that promotion or sadly even find their self-worth. But this is not healthy. If you’ve been running hard on little sleep, then set aside time this holiday season to rest—and catch up on your sleep—without feeling badly about it.
Give yourself permission to decline a social event. This can be so hard to do! It’s hard to say no and risk missing out on something really special, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need to do. And it’s okay. Is there an event on your calendar that feels more like an obligation than something you’re looking forward to? Why do you feel like you must attend that event? What would happen if you declined it? Look at your calendar for the rest of November and December and be intentional with the events you accept. Remember, it’s okay to protect your energy—and usually you’re the only one who knows when you need to do so.
Take a technology break. If you’re a parent, you’ve probably heard that it’s good to give your child a sensory break. This essentially means they get a break from activities or learnings that stimulate them, allowing them to rest, reset, self-regulate, process, and deescalate. But why don’t adults prioritize sensory breaks for themselves? Well, we’re busy, responsible, and driven—plus, it can feel impossible to set boundaries with technology constantly notifying us of the next thing we’ve got to do. And that’s exactly why it’s vital to give yourself a technology break (and therefore a sensory break). You can tell the people closest to you that you want to carve out this time and then set the notifications on your device accordingly. And in those device settings, you can allow those most important to you to still have their calls ring through despite the do not disturb setting—this can give you peace of mind that if there is a true emergency, you’ll hear about it.
If you get time away from the office this holiday season, try implementing some of the tips we suggested. They could be excellent steps in your self-leadership journey. And another tool to consider would be our latest eLearning solution: our Self-Leadership Digital Series. We’ve packaged our self-leadership coaching content and frameworks into three digital courses that will help you get clear on your priorities, set healthy work-life boundaries, and maximize your impact both at work and at home.
