How to be Productively Unproductive to Allow our Mind to Recover
Most of us know how physical training works, and how we get physically better. We engage in cycles of physical work plus rest and recovery. We run 5 miles, and then let our bodies rest until tomorrow or the next day. We do a killer leg workout, and then let our legs recover for a few days before doing that workout again. We know that during our rest and recovery periods, our bodies work to rebuild muscle fibers, restore fluids, and generate more proteins. And these physiological processes result in our bodies getting faster, stronger, and better. The rest periods are just as important as the work periods.
In fact, this recovery works both in short terms (from day to day), and in long terms (across weeks and months). I know from my own experience that if I’m trying to build up to a new distance or get faster over the current distance of running, that I must plan sufficient recovery periods and space out my running work sets across a week according to that plan. And, occasionally, every couple of months, I take a whole week or so off of running, and when I do that, the next time I jump back in, I find that I am usually fresher and faster.
Like with physical training, studies show that we can train our mind the same way with periods of focus, and then periods of recovery. We spend time focusing, then we spend time recovering. As we engage in these cycles over time, our productivity increases, and our ability to focus increases. When these occur, we start to find ourselves with MORE TIME. More time for more recovery, or fun activities, or productive activities. This should be one of the goals of our life: To have more time to do the things you want.
So we know we need to let our mind recover, just like our body, and we need to do on a daily scale, weekly scale, and longer scale. This message focuses on what we do daily to let our mind recover.
When you let your mind rest, you must do it in a way that allows your mind to actually recover so it can focus and reengage when you need it. Again, much like with physical training. With physical training, useful recovery includes proper nutrition and inactivity so your body has the ingredients and time it needs to efficiently rebuild. With your mind, you must find the ways to be PRODUCTIVELY UNPRODUCTIVE.
2 Kinds of Mental Rest
- The right kind:
- Relaxes
- Keeps your mindset positive
- Restores creativity
- Readies the mind for focus
- The wrong kind:
- Agitates
- Moves your mindset to the negative
- Stifles creativity
- Keeps the mind from focusing
We’ve defined the right kind and wrong kind by what they DO, but we haven’t really said what they ARE. That’s because the activities that work for you are generally subjective. Your goal is to find the particular types of mental rest that works FOR YOU. We are unique, we are individually designed, and when we embrace our uniqueness, and be honest with ourselves, we are able to find what works best for us.
For example, here are some of the “right kind” of activities for me to be productively unproductive during a day:
- Exercise (one of the main reasons I do my best to put my workout in the MIDDLE of my workday). Even if not intense exercise, something physical and outside, like a walk. Outside seems to be important for me.
- Prayer / meditation. I start my workdays with this, and it’s very focusing. This is actually an activity that requires focus (whereas most of these are the opposite of mental focus), but I include it in this list because I think it is one of the best ways to get my mindset correct for the day.
- Checking off some of the more mindless activities on my daily task list. Maybe there’s some appointments to schedule or rearrange, or some errands to run, equipment to connect/disconnect, etc. Disengaging onto these tasks not only helps my mind recover, but its also works off the task list!
- Any online resources (videos, blogs, etc) or books or podcasts that provide some learning value (NO NEWS!). You may be saying, “Hey, I thought these were activities that were mental breaks”. Its true, but I’ve found that if I switch gears at the end of a focus period, or the end of my “workday” to learning on a separate (but possibly related) topic, this is very helpful. My mind still seems to be able to recover quite well and the changeup is welcomed. Kind of like doing an endurance workout in the morning, and then training upper body strength later in the day. Complimentary and useful.
- Music, playing or listening.
- Sometimes lunch or coffee/tea out of the office. I normally use my lunch time for exercise and eat lunch that I have brought with me in the office, but sometimes I just need to get out for a bit.
- And yes, sometimes some very mindless entertainment such as a little Angry Birds, Philly sports (simply watching the games, not engaging in the diabolical world of the drama of the teams), cat videos, or anything with some humor 🙂
Here are some things that I have given up (or do my best to resist) because I have found that they are the “wrong kind” of activities for resting my mind:
- Sports radio. Way too negative and provocative. That, of course, is its purpose. It does the opposite of relaxing me.
- Sports websites, twitter feeds, etc. Ditto.
- News of any kind (to be fair, other than sports news, I’ve never been much of a news guy, so this was easy for me)
- Social media (although I do usually check this at points during the day, but I don’t scroll and engage)
- Engaging in the typical workplace and life drama conversations
- Reading purposefully inflammatory blogs, forums, or websites
Those are just some ideas from my world. What are yours? Find the “right kind” and eliminate the “wrong kind”.
Conclusion
Your mind needs a break just as your body does, so its important to give it some rest. However, its just as important to give it the right kind of rest. Find your best method for being “productively unproductive”.
Please connect with me, and share your ideas for the “right kind” and “wrong kind” of mental rest. We all have different experiences, and we can always learn from each other.
Have a great day!
