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?
