The Easiest Thing to Forget

Oh wow, am I ever exhausted.

I sat down to type this post out and wham! I got slammed with a wave of exhaustion and fatigue so hard it made my head spin a little.

I guess I am kind of lucky, though, because getting tired reminded me of how easy it is to forget how easily the pendulum swings from workaholic to couch potato.

It happens to me all the time. I’m going to the gym, I am reading and writing, I’m being productive constantly and then all of a sudden… it all just stops. One day of rest turns into a week, until I am right back where I was two months before, only I am far more discouraged in myself for breaking my streak of creativity and production.

My main point of this post is to take everything in baby steps. Micro actions build macro habits which then yield the greatest results. Don’t burn your brain out writing 2000 words per day just for some challenge I found on Twitter, especially not if that goal fries you. It’s all supposed to be fun, and remain that way.

There is some reasoning behind why this happens, and therefore some solid ways to avoid burning out for weeks at a time. The first one, I believe, is intentionality. My dad always used to tell me, “Start every day as if it was on purpose” when I would wake up for middle school. It doesn’t just apply to the usual suspects of “productivity” (cleaning, doing taxes, working, creating, etc.) but also heavily applies towards the restful activities (gaming, watching TV, reading a beachside romance novel in your living room, etc.)

Another key to this habit building is to recognize when the primal part of you wants to take a short break, and let it! Your brain, while it tricks you constantly, really does have your best interest in mind (pun not intended but well appreciated) when it tries to tell you most everything. In this case, it can lead you down a bad pathway of turning breaks into the standard, with short bursts of work in between long luxurious breaks. However, the breaks can be a relaxing task to the side of your brain that tries to protect you from stress, thereby allowing you to refresh yourself and return to work.

The last one in my opinion is discipline. These really all play into each other, but knowing when to stop your break is key. You should probably not take a three hour break every three hours, but taking an occasional 45 minute rest can increase the amount you create for those 3 hour, or even 2 hour stints. Discipline will produce habits, which produce the best results, since your brain and body get into a rhythm and stop having to be conscious of everything they do.

All this to set a standard reminder for all of you guys reading this and following along; please take a break occasionally. Game for an hour or just sit in your favorite armchair for a little bit. Just give your mind a little time to recuperate from constantly going, so that we can learn how best to continue our streaks and build better habits to keep our creative bonfires alight. Thanks for reading, guys.