Take a Break From Your Adventures (and Enjoy Life More)

You know how you’re supposed to learn from your mistakes? I try. But sometimes I make the same ones ones over and over again. I’m gradually improving – but it’s always harder than I expect to break habits, to forge new paths, and to find a way to travel through life with maximum excitement and interest.

One mistake which keeps cropping up for me is not getting enough down time. I know that this is an issue for me. I know that I get into times of overwork, and crash and burn. Over the past few months, I’ve been ill a few times (unusual for me). I’ve felt weepy, frustrated and overwhelmed: and while those feelings are part and parcel of the occasional long-hard-slog section of life, they shouldn’t be cropping up on a regular basis.

We need down time. We need to play, relax, laugh and do things which aren’t “work” (in the broadest sense of the word). Sometimes we need to be entertained, or to do something purely for its own sake. This isn’t only normal, it’s also good. It’s part of being human.

When Paul and I went on a walking break a couple of weeks ago, the aim each day was to cover a set number of miles. But that wasn’t the whole point of the walk. Having time to stop and admire the view, to chat, and to sit in village pubs was just as important.

You might well have a bunch of great goals that you’re excited about – I know I do. You may want to get on with them as quickly as possible. You probably feel good about yourself when you’re making solid progress.

But finishing your day (week/month/life) with a completed to-do list, or an empty inbox, or a tidy house, isn’t the point. And even if it was…

Burning Out Isn’t Terribly Effective

I’ve never reached the stage of real burnout. But people do. Overwork can cause serious illness:

Weeks of relentless hours had literally collapsed my immune system, allowing a softball-sized infection to ravage my intestines and eat a hole through them from the outside in. Within hours, I was in the OR. Thankfully, I made it through, battered, but on my way to a full recovery.

(Jonathan Fields, Career Renegade, p4)

Even at a less severe level, if you’re not getting enough down time, you’re going to see your effectiveness take a nose dive. If you end up ill, you’re going to have to down tools – whether it’s convenient or not. If you force yourself to work even when your body and brain are tired out, you may well end up crying, snapping at loved ones, or unable to rest and sleep.

To return to the walking analogy, if we’d tried to walk for 25 miles in one day, it would’ve left us exhausted and quite probably injured. We’d not only have been miserable during the actual walking, we’d have left ourselves less able to complete the actual journey.

I read various productivity blogs and follow productivity people on Twitter. I sometimes get lured in by the macho voice of productivity, which about constantly doing more, earning more, crashing through barriers and beating weaknesses. And perhaps that works for some people, but not for me.

I keep having to remind myself that I’m more productive when I’m happy, and when I’m getting enough time to relax and recharge. I don’t do good work when I’m running myself into the ground – and I suspect that you don’t either.

Conscious Leisure Isn’t Procrastination

Ever since I first got interested in personal development as a student, I’ve been coming across screeds of advice on procrastination. The thing is, I’ve never had a big problem with procrastination. Like everyone, I put things off from time to time. But if I have a specific task to get on with, I’m usually fine at sitting down and doing it.

So when I run across well-meant advice aimed at people who really do struggle with their procrastination habit, I sometimes take it the wrong way. I’ll read blog posts about how “the typical person watches a gazillion hours of television every evening”, and I’ll start to feel guilty about the handful of shows I watch each week – even though I really enjoy them, even though I consciously sit down and put them on, and even though that leisure time helps me to be happier and more productive overall.

I have to remind myself that procrastination is not at all the same thing as conscious leisure. The easiest way for me to frame this is with an analogy from personal finance:

• Procrastination is like impulse shopping (with money which you can’t really afford to spend)
• Conscious leisure is like conscious spending (choosing to spend your money on things which are meaningful to you)

You should never feel guilty about spending your time on something you genuinely want to do and enjoy doing. There’s a world of difference between sitting down to watch your favourite TV show on a Friday night, and spending all day Sunday watching chat shows which you don’t even like just because you’re putting off doing your tax return.

If you’re really struggling to distinguish between procrastination and valid leisure time, then ask yourself how you’re going to feel after engaging in a particular activity. Will you be cheered up and refreshed? Or will you feel fed up about “wasted” time which you’d rather have spent on something else?

Overwork Damages Creativity

For anyone involved in creative work (or creative play), overwork is counter-productive. So many times while writing fiction, I’ve tried to push onwards with a scene which isn’t quite there, and – for the sake of the wordcount – I’ve ignored a nagging feeling that something’s wrong.

Often, the only problem is that I need to take a break, and come back with fresh energy and fresh eyes. Sometimes, the resistance is a sign that I need to stop and rethink: I’ve got a character who doesn’t really belong in this story, or there’s a plot element I haven’t thought through.

I’m generally a bit suspicious of creatives talking about the “Muse” – I’m not convinced that externalising our creativity and inspiration is helpful – but I think in this case it works as an analogy. If you’re working at an intensity which isn’t comfortable for you, then your Muse is going to head into hiding.

A lot of my ideas – for blog posts, for my novel, for business projects, and just for life in general – arise when I’m not at my desk. Routine tasks like walking, showering and cooking often help me to think. Entertaining movies and novels can spark off a thought. And, above all, great conversations with friends can push my thinking to a new level.

Overwork can be deadening to the spirit. When I focus too much on doing more and more, I find myself waking up in the morning with no sense of adventure. I don’t want to get out of bed and launch into a long, duty-heavy list of tasks. I certainly don’t feel especially inspired about my writing.

Yet, when I tell myself that I can afford to take a day or even just an afternoon off, and when I make time for the things which I love, I find my energy returning. I get excited about my work again.

I love my work. But that doesn’t mean it’s good or right for me to overdo it.

If your problem isn’t getting on with things so much as stopping doing them, this is what works for me:

• Don’t look at your inbox for at least a day (preferably a whole weekend). It’s amazing how the world can survive without you…
• Go and see a movie. It’s too easy to pause a DVD at home, or get distracted with thoughts of stuff that needs doing – but once you’ve bought a ticket and sat down to watch a movie, you’re much more likely to get immersed.
• Shut down the computer at a set time each night. (9pm works for me, though I often don’t manage this!) Read a novel. No brownie points for literary merit – make it as escapist as you like.

Go and play. Go and recapture your spirit of adventure.