What if rest is the most productive thing you can do?

We’ve all saved the content on how to maximise our hours, days and productivity. How to work harder, smarter and utilise ChatGPT to help eliminate or speed up tasks. We have no issues with wanting productivity. Give me all the tips and tricks. 

But what if scheduling intentional REST is the most productive thing you could do this quarter? 

Here’s the thing. The most important asset in your business is YOU.

While there is a lot you can delegate and outsource, there is ultimately only one of you. And if you’re a brand that relies on your face and personality showing up then it’s even more vital that you’re taking care of you.

A mindset I have to overcome almost daily is: “Rest is not something I need to earn”

Maybe it’s the Type A do-er in me. But I struggle to put down my to-do list and fully switch off until I’ve felt like I have worked hard enough to deserve time off. And I know I’m not alone in feeling this way!

Running your own business means all of the potential for growth and income is reliant on you. It can be both incredibly empowering and uber stressful. Because the sky's the limit, there is the constant pressure to use every spare moment “productively” and keep tackling more and more tasks.

The truth however is that it doesn’t matter how hard we work if our nervous system is constantly in overdrive. 

When we can begin to work from a place of rest, we will actually find we are more creative and show up differently. 

Efficiency is not the only goal. Enjoying our work, having a calm sense of purpose, creating the business and lifestyle we originally set out to - these are also ways to measure success. 

As we approach the end of quarter 3 and gear up for the next quarter, I like to take some time out to briefly pause and reflect on what's been happening the past 3 months.

I do a stocktake of what went really well, what were the challenges and revisit the big vision goals I have for this year and how I’m tracking. 

A business mentor shared how she takes a look at all her main  tasks and weighs them up against the ROI (return on investment) and then the energy output. How do I feel when I do this? 

What would it look like if you scheduled more rest (and therefore productivity) into the rest of your year? What would your business feel like?