Last week, I had one remarkably productive day and one completely unproductive day. My lack of productivity was not due to lack of effort, but every time I tried to complete a task, something went wrong. I couldn’t seem to get into a groove of getting stuff done, and I eventually stopped trying. One of those two days, I woke up at 8 a.m.. The other day, I slept in until noon.
Would you believe me if I told you that my extra productive day didn’t start at sunrise, but actually began after most people had already been up for a few hours?
That’s right, folks. After a very unproductive day that started at 8 a.m., I decided to let myself sleep until I woke up the next day with no expectations of what the day would hold. And I woke up at noon and slayed. I accomplished more in two hours than I did the entire day before for one reason: I listened to my body.
There’s a misconception that productivity looks like waking up at the crack of dawn and grinding until midnight, but continuously expecting yourself to perform well like this over time will only lead to burnout and disappointment.
We are all only human, and we need to rest in order to accomplish our goals and make our dreams a reality.
Stop thinking about rest and productivity as polar opposites; Rest is NOT the enemy of productivity. Without allowing ourselves time to recuperate, we are unable to give the proper energy to what matters most in our lives.
Don’t treat every day that you hit snooze a few times too many as a wasted “lazy day” (although the occasional lazy day is necessary and totally valid, too). Sure, waking up just in time for lunch may throw a wrench in your plans, but you can still do important, impactful things after noon.