If you want to be more productive, there’s an important yet counterintuitive thing you must do:

Rest. 

Recently I was telling a friend about how much I had going on and how I needed to accomplish so much and execute at a high level. Their advice to me? 

Rest and relax more.

It may sound ridiculous, but it’s true that rest actually helps us to be more productive.

Rest and work can go hand-in-hand to help you be more creative and more productive. When you’ve had adequate rest, your work is more fruitful than the times you sit down to accomplish work when you’ve been deprived of rest. 

So I want you to coach yourself with this question: 

Where could I incorporate more rest into my routine?

It’s super simple, but a lot of times in the race to get things done in our overloaded culture, rest is usually at the bottom of the to-do list. However, rest is a success strategy.

Rest can mean a lot of things. It can include getting plenty of sleep in the evenings, but it’s also taking naps when you need them, taking a walk as a break, or it could mean stopping for just 10 minutes in the middle of the day to breathe, or meditate, or pray. 

Resting is an attitude. It’s an approach toward your work that says “I can only push myself so much. I’ve got a limited reserve of energy for my creativity and my productivity and the way that I rebuild and replenish that energy is by allowing myself to rest.” 

Rather than thinking of rest as being lazy or just something that people get to do when they’re retired or when they don’t have much to do, think of rest as being critical to your success. Then ask yourself where you could get a bit more rest.

Try it out this week! Start by making sure you get eight hours of sleep. Take a nap. Take breaks at work. When you feel like you can’t stop, but you know you need to, allow yourself to pause and breathe. Approach your work with a sense that rest is just as important as productivity. 

This whole month of June is all about rest in my membership, the Successful Women’s Academy (SWA). We are focused on how to get more rest, how to use it as a success strategy, and how to give yourself permission to do it. If you’ve considered getting serious about your own personal growth, learn how SWA could help you reach your goals at valorieburton.com/swa.

Coach Yourself
Where can you incorporate rest in your routine this week?
Who will hold you accountable to rest?