Leveraging on Down-Time
4 ways to take advantage of a productivity dip
Would you consider yourself to be working right now, while reading this article? Or is it something you do when you’re tired and just want to relax a bit?
Truth is, sometimes I’m not even sure when I’m being productive or not. I just know that I’m working. And that’s not really bad, as long as you get to meet your goals on time. But there are some days we could get so disappointed because we just can hit that goal. We may do a bit or some of the work, but just won’t reach that measurable milestone we pinned down on paper at the beginning of the week.
Sometimes we just want to lie down and sleep (or maybe just rest).
We just want to be aware but not calculate.
We just want to breathe.
And I know you may have been judging yourself when you do this on some occasions, but I’m here to tell you why you should even embrace those moments more. In this short article, I want to walk you through the four rules I apply to make sure I get the most out of my rest. And please, I’m not trying to tell you that you must be productive even while your resting (I mean, that’s literally conflicting and unnecessary). Rather, I want you to get used to rest, and even look forward to it because you’ll know that you’re doing it the right way.
1. Downtime is creativity time
How many times has a mind blowing idea for your business popped into your head when you’re in the shower? Or you just lie down on the couch to take a quick break and you think up a solution to a lingering problem that all the blog posts and YouTube channels haven’t been able to give you?
This is what downtime does. I’ll let you in on a little secret: my current content calendar for this blog and even my Instagram business page is more manual than automated. I have a large cardboard that I use to write out ideas of content for an entire month. This is because content ideas gush into my head during downtime, and because I’m too lazy to open up my laptop and start typing (I am trying not to stress myself here), I just write it. And it works perfectly well for me.
While working, you should know that your mind is more fixed on the task at hand. So it is not so easy to switch from the hard worker-focused mindset to a free and creative mindset. That’s why at meetings, the boss tells subordinates what ideas they should ruminate on and develop for the next meeting. Because hopefully, by then, they should have a creative spur and get the job done.
The bad side, however, is when you keep procrastinating because you haven’t gotten into the creative mood yet. I would advise you to just get to work either way, if this happens, and if you try hard enough, an idea would still come and you will have a breakthrough eventually.
2. You’re either resting or you’re not
Truth is, no matter how guilty you are about the fact that you just can’t work at the moment, such guilt still won’t get the job done. So you choose to either fully relax, or you stand up and continue working.
It’s as simple as that.
Even if you make yourself feel as lazy as Homer Simpson (from The Simpsons), you’ll only be deteriorating your mental energy. And what good would that do? My advice is this: if you know you’re just tired at the moment and you deserve rest, then do it.
And do it well.
Take a bath is you need to. Have a lunch break. Just lie down and breathe. But if you truly are a Homer, then I’m not talking to you. Work a little, then we can talk.
3. Contain your urge to sleep (when you should)
Anytime that you feel really tired, your best bet always seems like some shuteye. I mean, what could be more relaxing than that? Well, the thing is, the effect that sleep has on your body differs based on how long you sleep, ad if you’re not ready to turn in for the day, its recommended that you get what is called a power nap”. This is a short nap that’s usually between 5–20 minutes, for some maybe 30. Just know that you shouldn’t sleep so long that you wake up feeling grumpy and sluggish. A power nap is meant to make you feel more alert immediately after.
So don’t overdo it.
Trust me, the longer your sleep in the daytime, the lower the benefits. And you might not always need a power nap, unless in dire situations. Personally, I use power naps when it seems like I’m getting a headache while working. So I keep all gadgets away and lie down for a while till my head stops throbbing a bit. I try to be a bit conscious so that even if I doze off, I won’t sleep too deep. If done properly, it works so well that you feel as if it’s a brand new day and you have the energy to do almost anything! And the good part is, you don’t feel as hazy as you would after a normal night’s sleep.
4. Don’t over-indulge
I’m not talking about food here though, but still, you shouldn’t break a diet because of a tired day.
I mean don’t do anything that you know will ultimately stretch your downtime. For example, you just had lunch and feel you should rest a little, but then you turn on the television and start watching a movie that is so interesting and you’re like “oh well, it’s just an hour long, I will continue work after the movie”.
By doing that, you have silenced the hundreds of sirens blowing at the back of your head trying to remind you of self-discipline, consistency, and your goals in general. They are all shouting don’t do it, but you block them out and do it anyways. That’s not downtime anymore, unless you plan out that space of time initially for that particular reason. If not, then you are gradually paving the way for consistent indulgence in an unhealthy habit — allowing unproductive things take up much of your time.
Instead, learn to measure the time you take to rest. Just the same way that long hours of sleep during the day are not usually beneficial, also long hours of distraction such as movies, social media, and even prolonged conversations with friends can slowly eat into our time. And take note, all these things I mentioned aren’t things you should ideally be doing when you need to really rest.
You should have specific time slated for these activities, different from when you rest. When done the right way, you only need about an hour of rest (or less) after every long task to be ready for the next.
So learn not to waste it.
Thanks for reading!
