I’ve been ill with a stomach bug for the last few days and this has reminded me of the importance of rest and slowing down. When you are interested in productivity and achieving your goals it is easy to become too focused on always doing something, and neglect the fact that sometimes doing nothing is equally as important. Allowing your body and mind to rest and recuperate is an important part of healthy living.

It is no lie that in order to achieve your goals you need to make productive use of your time and really make sure that you are taking the right actions to get you to where you want to be; let’s not forget that it is all very well complaining that we don’t like our current job, situation etc. but if you don’t take action and you just lie on the sofa watching TV night after night then you are in a position of your own making. Like many things in life, rest and work are areas where you need to strike the right balance to enable you to be efficient in what you do, and get where you want to, without burning out.

Here are some tips on slowing down, but still remaining productive towards your long term aspirations.

1. Recognise the signs
You need to learn to recognise when you are working too hard or approaching burn out. By learning the symptoms and causes you can take the necessary actions to make sure that you avoid getting into a fatigue situation early.

2. Allow yourself to stop
So you recognise the signs that you are doing too much, but heres the hard part; persuading yourself to stop and rest for a while. I often find that I feel the need to always be productive and if I am not doing something constructive then I feel like I am selling myself short. There is always a time for hard work, but there is also a need for rest.

3. Plan your rest
I always make sure that I have something to look forward too such as a holiday, weekend away or something new and exciting to do. This is a great technique because then, when you are facing a difficult challenge or a situation that requires extra focus, you can always look forward to something that you have planned coming up soon.

4. Have a day off
Another great tip is to have a day off, at least one per week. You need a day to rest and do nothing. This allows you mind to recoup and process the copious amount of information you have to deal with on a daily basis.

5. Use your time wisely (be productive)
You are less likely to feel guilty about resting or taking time off if you are productive when you are working towards your goals. Make sure that you use your time in the most productive way you can and don’t procrastinate. If you strive to get the action habit then you will achieve what you want whilst still having the time to relax.

I know that many people are working hard in their Lifestyle Project to have more time off! Work hard, but don’t deny yourself the rest that your body and mind deserves along the way to achieving your goals.

How do you relax? Do you feel that you can’t relax because you always need to be ‘productive’? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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Bits & Bobs:

So the new site design is up, what do you think? I’ve still got a few tweaks I would like to do but I like the design very much. I’m planning to do a post on moving from wordpress.com to your own hosted blog soon – if you have any questions regarding this please do let me know lifestyle [dot] project [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Image Credit: by *Micky on Flickr via Creative Commons

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Reading around the web (some actually relevant to this post!):

http://lateralaction.com/articles/getting-nothing-done/

http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/get_a_life_blog/2008/11/who-says-follow.html

http://zenhabits.net/2008/11/the-lazy-mans-guide-to-getting-things-done/

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Thanks for reading.

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