Hey storyteller,
This is coming out later than usual. Not to get overly personal, but my custody schedule means that I have a 5-day stretch over the weekend with my kiddo and those weeks I always feel like I'm behind. I don't talk about it often but it usually means that I'm working on weekends, especially the child-free ones.
Last Sunday was Easter and I had my brother come over for the egg hunt for my kiddo. I'm not religious, but I love seeing my kiddo experience traditions and relive those fond childhood memories.
It was the first day I didn't think about work or sat at my computer. It was a true rest day.
And I might not have given myself a full rest since Christmas. Even when I attend a breathwork class or an outing with friends, I'm still checking email or thinking about work.
Does anyone else struggle with fully relaxing? Even when I watch YouTube or read, it's usually about work or personal development topics.
I read fiction as well, but sometimes it's from the writer's perspective and not someone reading for the pure joy of it.
I approached this issue with peers at the Waywo project (check the community highlight for more information about them), and one thing stuck out to me: the idea that I can approach each week as an experiment: how much can I accomplish on client projects in 4 focused sessions before the weekend? Can I take a week off after larger project deadlines?
It gave me another way to think about my energetic capacity and flip the script on productivity and rest. It's not about pushing myself to "get it all done," but how can I structure my days and weeks to hit the deadlines I've set while caring for myself and my health.
Creative burnout is so real. And it has killed my momentum on more than one occasion. 2024 is the year that I don't just "push through," but equip myself with the skills to create at a steady and sustainable pace.
Creativity thrives on us focusing on unrelated things to make disparate connections and solve problems.
Two books talk about how integral rest is to the creative process and I still think about them often:
Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang and Daily Habits: How Artists Work by Mason Currey (both affiliate links).
The best creatives in history get 3-4 hours of deep work done in a day, but it's not out of laziness. It's because our brains need time away from the work in order to put pieces together we wouldn't have been able to do consciously.
Why do we collectively expect to get more done in the greats? Why does our culture insist upon quantity over quality?
We can't single-handedly turn the tide on this, but one way I (try to) incorporate more rest into my llife is each month I write out the following parts of my marketing/business plan in this order:
- Days I'm taking off-- usually for my kid's appointments, holidays, and sometimes when family is in town
- The offer I'm selling (or free resource/workshop I'm holding)
- Content theme that leads to the offer
- Visibility/pitch goals
- Customer experience projects
- Self care-- this could be habits I want to cultivate or time in nature, outings, or hobbies I want to pursue more
I am not even close to perfecting this, and as you can tell I very rarely take days off "just because," which is something I plan to work on.
What's one way you can incorporate more rest? What ideas came up for you the last time you took time to recharge?
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Upcoming Events & Dates:
APR 10 - Waywo Wednesday
800 E 18th St. • 2:45-4:45pm
See below for what it's about, but I'll be the speaker/firestarter for that day's session.
APR 21 - My Birthday
No event or anything. Just thought you should know because I'm extra like that. 🎂
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Waywo Project
Short for "what are you working on?" They're a peer-led advisory group that helps folks solve problems in their personal and professional lives. It's fueled by the Medici effect-- meaning people from diverse industries can collide & collaborate.
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