GET MORE DONE BY PLANNING REST AND LEARNING INTO YOUR LIFE

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As you start the year, you may well have dedicated time to planning your goals and maybe even developing a vision board (see the blog for how to make a vision board). This is a great way to ensure that you reach your aspirations and use your time well. However, many of us can forget the importance of actually PLANNING breaks and time for learning into our lives. Read on to find out why these are essential and ideas to build into your week.

SHARPEN THE SAW – A WOODCUTTER’S GUIDE

In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey wraps up with the final habit ‘Sharpen the Saw’ (or at least he did until releasing ‘The Eighth Habit’). The basic premise of the habit is that we all need time to rest, reflect and rejuvenate if we are to perform well at anything. This is beautifully illustrated in his story of the woodcutter:

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.

 The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”

 Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

 “I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.

“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”

Some later versions of this analogy go even further to compare the lives of two woodcutters – one of whom works flat out all day in order to maximise productivity and the other who stops to take comfort breaks and to sharpen his tools before carrying on. The woodcutter who never stops performs worse and is even a little burned out for his exertions whilst the one who took time to ‘sharpen the saw’ continues to perform well in a sustainable way.

SHARPENING OR RESTING?

The analogy of the woodcutter leads us to think about two different but important aspects of self care:

• Time to rest – working for eight hours solid cutting down trees is exhausting. Time to rest means ‘putting down the axe’. This allows the body and mind to take a break from the activity so that you can go back to it with more strength.
• Time to learn – relentlessly cutting down trees will blunt the axe over time. Dedicating time to sharpen the axe means that it is always able to do a good job. This is an analogy for keeping the mind sharp by learning new techniques, reflecting on processes and spending time thinking about the ‘how’ of an activity rather than just doing it.

TYPES OF REST WE ALL NEED

There are many different models of balance which can give us ideas about the various domains of life which require rest – some will have as few as four aspects (physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual) whilst others can be broader. Models with more areas empower you to assess your life in a wider way to identify where rest may benefit you. The definition of rest can be broad too – sometimes meaning avoiding that activity in order to have a break and at other times rest means engaging in that activity in a comfortable and refreshing way.

Physical rest

• Get the recommended amount of sleep
• Physically relax the body at regular intervals (balance this with exercise)
• Use deep breathing to relax the chest and release any stress chemicals
• Tense or stretch muscles and then release them
• Consuming easy to digest and light foods

Mental rest

• Take breaks from activity where you can ‘do nothing’
• Use mindfulness to bring yourself into the present moment
• Use music to get away from busy thoughts

Emotional rest

• Talk to someone who is a good listener
• Use journaling to process your feelings
• Set healthy boundaries with people

Social rest

• Spend time with people whom you can act naturally with
• Take breaks from people to be alone

Spiritual rest

• Take time in nature to connect with the wider world
• Reflect on things or situations that bring you wonder
• Engage in activities that give you a sense of purpose or meaning

Intellectual rest

• Take a break from learning in order to appreciate or consolidate what you already know
• Take a break from learning ready to come back to it refreshed
• Do an activity which is already in your comfort zone rather than new

Sensory rest

• Wear comfortable clothes
• Spend time in silence or with very gentle / instrumental music
• Take breaks from screens
• Switch off notifications and instant communications

MAKING TIME TO REST

There are three approaches to resting:

1. Denial – either denying that you need to rest or knowing you need to rest but denying yourself the time. This will lead to burnout or other problems as stress piles up.
2. Reactive – when you feel tired in one of the areas, you allocate some time to rest in order to get back to a normal or acceptable level. This helps to treat the symptoms.
3. Proactive – being self-aware means that you know which areas of rest you require to be happy and healthy and you plan them into your schedule regularly so that you avoid getting tired in the first place.

If you want to become a proactive rester here are some thoughtful questions:

• What kinds of rest would you (or do you) most benefit from to stay healthy and happy?
• How much rest do you need in that area?
• How do you like to rest that part of yourself?
• When is the best time to fit that rest into your day or week? (when is it most effective?)
• Do you need any resources to carry out that rest?
• Do you involve anyone else in that rest – can you plan it with them?
• How can you motivate yourself to rest? What are the benefits?
• How can you commit to rest? Setting reminders? Blocking out your calendar?

Working through these questions should help you to formulate a personalised action plan which will help you to proactively build rest into your day. It is important that you review your plan to see if it is working for you and if you want to make any amendments.

MAKING TIME TO SHARPEN YOUR SAW – LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Taking a rest from cutting will only do so much if you continue to use a blunt axe on the trees. Once you have a good routine of proactive rest, you can add in the additional layer of learning and development.

Sharpening the saw can happen in the same broad areas of your life:

• Learning about sleep science may help you to rest better
• Communication skills may improve your social relationships
• Studying may give you new techniques at work
• Personal reflection may give you a deeper connection to your spirituality

In order to learn and grow you may want to consider these reflective questions:

• Is there a challenge you would like to overcome or an area of life you would like to improve?
• What skills, knowledge or tools may help you? If you don’t know, can you do some research?
• How much time will you need to dedicate to the learning to reap the benefits?
• When will you fit this time into your day / week?
• How will you keep yourself motivated along the way? What are the benefits of this learning?
• Who can support you along the way?
• What are the milestones you can use to track your progress?
• How can you celebrate your successes?
• How will you review and evaluate your learning?

Investing in your learning and development ultimately means that you will be able to ‘work smarter’ instead of harder.

The Self Leadership Initiative is passionate about helping individuals and teams to reach their potential. If you want support in building rest into your life then get in touch today.