- Coach Alicia Byers
The Surprising Value Of Rest To Get Things Done
Move as fast as you can!
These were the words that I found at the bottom of a notebook page from years ago, where I had not only penned a morning routine checklist, but the amount of time each task would take so I could make the most of my time in the morning.
That “word of encouragement” was the guiding principle for most of my early adult years, starting in high school. Early morning spin class, followed by school, then heading straight to work when the last bell rang...wash-rinse-repeat.
How much could I get done? And how fast could I do it? Get more done . . . always the focus.
For many years, I was confused about what I needed to do, what I wanted to do, and what I shouldn’t do. And that lack of clarity followed me into entrepreneurship.
As a result, I had no boundaries, and my gifts and talents were being sorely misused.
Has that ever happened to you?
What happens when we don’t properly use our giftedness?
This can apply to either over-suing or under-using our gifts!
Life can get messy. Important things get overlooked as we become busy with minutiae.
People get hurt, as we fail to have time for them because of overcommitment.
We make mistakes.
We break healthy boundaries.
We are unable to actually not get more done
But it doesn’t have to be that way!
Four ways we might respond when feeling overwhelmed
Lean into turbo-charge and try to do it ALL
Stop and freeze, thinking about all we could do…
Avoid, procrastinate, and retreat...which isn’t restful OR
We can look at our tasklist with clarity and take ownership of it, realizing when we need to call for help, what needs to wait, what needs to happen now, and how it’s going to happen.
The role of rest in getting things done
What’s of ultimate importance is guarding our rest - resting without thinking of our business, without running the to-do list in our mind.
Rest doesn’t “get” to happen when we’ve finished what we “need to do.” We don’t need to earn our rest.
Rest is fuel. Rest is what we get to work from… It becomes the foundation that fuels what we are designed to do!
Don’t underestimate the gift of slow in your life and your business - good rest fuels great work.
Listen to this episode for a simple exercise you can use to assess if you are guarding and embracing rest during your time away from work. Grab a notepad, tho, ‘cause there’s a lot of good stuff here!