My trampoline coach is away this weekend and couldn’t get coverage. With no hour-plus commute to and from practice, I set a lofty intention to seize the morning with a quick workout and then maximize the day by catching up on some work. Never mind that my sleep has been erratic for weeks, that what I probably needed more than anything was a good day of self-nourishment and a lot of doing nothing. There is work to be done. And what’s a Saturday for if not to be extra productive? Especially a rainy, cold Saturday.
I had a plan. A checklist. Motivation to get it all done.
Need I tell you that my plan did not quite come into being in the way I envisioned?
I felt off from the moment I woke up at 7 am. And by 11 am I was knee-deep in a self-judgment spiral. Never mind that I had completed a 2-hour workout and put away my laundry.
I was “behind” the schedule that I had created for myself, and my inner critic was going off on how I was unfit to teach and coach others, how I’m a fraud, how I should have woken up earlier, how I could have gone to sleep earlier, and more.
I was judging myself as bad for not being as productive as I had planned, for not being in integrity with my plans, for allowing myself to be “lazy,” and for judging myself for all of it.
That’s a lot of judgment.
And that judgment takes an energetic toll that blocks the energy I need to be truly productive.
The self-judgment was just a product of deep conditioning that tells me I must maximize every day for productivity. It was a function of my mind trying to disregard what the body needed so it could force me to conform to expectations.
My “Unproductive” Day
My judgment turned out to be premature. I started with a workout. I organized my clothes. I went to see my chiropractor. I went out for a nourishing lunch. I went for a manicure. I explored and stumbled on a new healthy food restaurant where I ate a light dinner. I ended with restorative yoga. In between I did a fair amount of writing and reading.
In the middle of my yoga practice, a lightbulb went off in my head: I may not have accomplished all the “work” I had planned, but by all relevant measures this was a productive day.
It was more than productive; it was constructive.
What Blocks Us From Productivity
The only major misstep was the time I spent in the judgment spiral. It stole energy from my day of self-care and nurturing.
Without judging it, I can recognize that the dive into self-judgment was simply a product of fear and guilt.
Fear that not buckling down is going to cost me something in my future: I’ll lose a client, or an opportunity.
Guilt because it feels self-indulgent to take a day for myself. What about all the work I have to do?
I hear constantly from clients the belief that “self-care is selfish.”
We need to shift this belief.
The Missing Link in Productivity
We tend to view rest and self-care as a reward for hard work. What if it’s the opposite? What if self-care is the prerequisite for hard work?
And what if that’s ok? In fact, what if it’s more than ok? What if it’s essential?
It’s called rest.
Even as we have — excuse the pun — woken up to the importance of sleep, we are ignoring the need for rest. Constructive rest.
Rest goes beyond sleep.
The truth is that the work of rest and restore is the most important work. It’s the work that lays the foundation for all other work.
Without allowing myself to receive rest and care, I have nothing to give to clients or anyone else.
A day to rest and receive self-care isn’t a reward for hard work.
It is the work.
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