Being Okay With Rest

Here's the thing. If you ask my family, I'm a bit of a workaholic. I get it from my stepdad - if I could work all day every day without consequence, I would likely try to do so. My mind is always going, I always have new ideas, and I need to do things now, now, now!

One of the biggest struggles that I have in my life is resting. I have such a hard time just sitting down, telling my brain to shut up, and working out what it is that needs to be taken care of for whatever reason. And I have always been this way - ever since college, I always had to do this, take care of that, work out everything and make sure that it was done in a particular way at a particular time.

I suck at resting.

One of the biggest issues I've had throughout this coronavirus thing is the fact that I have been home a lot more often. And with being home more often, I look around our house and I'm like "hey, all of these things need to be completed like yesterday." Then, I try to complete all of those things. And then I get more stressed, and then I get nothing done.

There have been a few days where I've just ended up sleeping because I tried to do too much in the few days before. And then the cycle continues!

I share all of this to say this: There are a lot of things to do, sure, but you're going to be a lot more prepared to deal with them if you actually allow yourself to have somewhat of a break from time to time.

How do you make time for rest? Here are some of my tips:

  • Make a to do list. In my case, I have to micromanage myself a bit, but you can make it as broad or extensive as you want it to be.

  • Don't be afraid to delegate. Sometimes, you aren't going to be able to do everything all by yourself. In my case, I run a board gaming blog with two other people, and I try to remember to delegate some tasks to them.

  • Make a strict "end" time. This can be hard, especially if you're working at home right now. But, you want to be sure to end at a certain time so you don't end up working all day and night.

  • If you can, don't do work in your bedroom. Having your "work space" be in a different room than your "sleep space" can make it easier for you to go to bed at night.

  • Allow yourself to sleep in sometimes.

  • Learn how to listen to your body. If it's worn out, take some time for yourself and see what a difference it can make.

  • Take a Sabbath Day. Saturday is my Sabbath (since I'm in charge of tech at my church and Sundays get busy when you work for the church), and I try hard to keep it that way. Even if your Sabbath isn't on Sunday, it's still important to have the rhythm of 6 + 1 (or even better, 5 + 2).

What do you do to ensure that you get more rest? What are you working with to help your body and mind get what they need?

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