Why I work a little less, sleep a little more, and play a lot more than I used to.

I love my work, I love accomplishment. The problem: I was lured into the trap of thinking that more is better. Specifically: More hours of work.

I don’t know just where I got the idea that non-stop work brings high production.  But I firmly believed it. 

I despised sleep and I aspired to need less of it. This is, of course, a ticket to sleep deprivation.

I brought my anti-rest prejudice to my Bible reading.

In scripture I admired the stories of Jesus’ perseverance of prayer in all night vigils and times he “rose while it was still dark”  to sneak off and pray.  I seemed to miss the verses like the ones when Jesus was taking a nap during a stormy boat ride.  Or the time when things had gotten so busy they didn’t even have time to eat, so Jesus said, “Let’s go to a lonely place and rest for a while.” Mark 6:30-34

I was perplexed and annoyed by Genesis 2:3 “On the Seventh Day God rested from all the work of creating.”

Why would an all powerful -highly productive- God endorse rest?

A few years ago I changed my mind about rest. I was lured into this change by the sub-title of a book. 

“ Why you get more done when you work less.” I was suspicious of the “work less” part of the sub-title and very suspicious of the primary title, Rest. But, “get more done?!- I am always looking for ways to get more done. 

Yes, I have read and meticulously worked through David Allen’s Getting Things Done

It was helpful, and I still use many of his tools, but my flood of things-to-do did not abate.

 Rest: cease work and relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.

How do we rest in a way that increases our production?

Three answers that surprised me.

• Sleep more
• Work fewer hours
• Play (involving movement) more

Sleep More

What separates the good music students from the great music students at the Berlin Conservatory? 

Two of the primary differences:

 Great students:

• Practice more (not a surprise)
• Sleep more  (a surprise)– Frequently this sleeping is in the form of a nap after a practice session.                              Researchers: Ericsson, Krampe, Tech-Romer

Work Fewer Hours

Who produces the most: full-time workers or part-time workers?

Back In the 1950’s a couple of techies decided to do a research project with their colleagues. They wondered who published the most articles to advance research; the folks who burned the midnight oil or the folks who barely showed up at the office?  

• Results: (not what I expected) The high producers were not the full time workers or full time + workers. The part time 10 to 20 hours a week workers were the highest article producers. 

More recent research continues to support this finding.The 20 hour a week or 4 hours a day work schedule is highly productive in many different types of work.

      1950”s Researchers:  Raymon VanZelst and Willard Kerrgraffed Illinois Institute of Technology 

Play More- especially with movement

What is the difference between the great, Nobel Prize type scientists and the less accomplished scientists? Researchers measured many of the likely variables with no significant difference. Then they found this one.

• The great scientists have a high level of participation in athletic activities. The kind that can be done from youth to old age. Not-so-great scientists sit around a lot more.

Why is active play so valuable? Many reasons. Here are 2

• Active play: Produces new brain cells and moves our brain to default mode which promotes creativity.

Researchers: UCLA Bernice Eiduson, Maurine Bernstein Robert Root Bernstein and Helen Garnier

Pursuing Rest

I don’t know about you, but for me, rest does not just fall into my lap. I have to aggressively pursue it. Scheduling it helps.

I’m now giving myself permission to get a full night’s sleep. I’m scheduling active adventure days. I’m learning how to say, “Enough work. It’s time to take a break, relax and play.” 

So with these changes am I getting more things done? I don’t know if I am getting more done, I do know that the quality of what I do and the quality of my life have both increased with more rest.

Soul Sculpting Project: More Rest–Better Work, Better Life

This week set aside some time to:

• Sleep a little more 

Or 

• Work fewer hours

Or 

• Play using movement.

God blessed the seventh day and made it a Holy Day –because on that day God rested from all the work of creating. Gen. 2:3 

–I wonder –- How did God rest?

Gratitude for the work of:

Rest: Why you get more done when you work less.  Alex Soojung-Kim Pang