3 Ways I Find Rest (Hint: You're Already Paying For It)

"It's only 8 hours." my mom looked at me with confusion, "We can drive."

I knew by the royal "we", that she meant "me" and I was intent on making this a trip of leisure.

My mom, who suffers from sleep apnea and often relies on my ability to drive, wanted to save money by driving rather than riding on the bus for 8 hours.

I was reluctant because I knew my body and my mind needed to rest.

I'm so glad I did because I rode on the bus for 8 hours and this allowed me to sit and do nothing, but rest.

That's exactly why I paid for this experience - and it was worth every penny.

This past weekend mom and I spent the most amazing time at a women's conference in Pontiac, Michigan.

Even though there were lots of vendors (I bought a hand-made fascinator and 10 months of Reign sanitary napkins... Totally worth it), powerful keynote speakers, and an amazing banquet, this conference was not your average women's empowerment conference.

This conference was designed to give Christian women throughout the Churches of Christ in the Midwest time to fellowship with other sisters, share their stories and "give it to God".

Now the "it" can be praise for overcoming a really challenging circumstance that's been holding her back or her emotions and desires to fix that challenge personally.

Whatever "it" is by the end of the conference, the hope is that she's been inspired through faith to hand "it" over to Him.

For me, this conference couldn't have come at a better time in my life.

My 9-5 as a DEI professional has been quite stressful for me and it often feels like it's the root cause of my burnout as a video content creator at times because there are only 24 hours in a day and both my day job and my digital business require time to work on them.

Working on my business part-time means I have a limited amount of time to work on building it.

That alone is stressful. Add to that challenges or roadblocks with clients, schedule conflicts, and undesirable tasks that require energy and motivation.

It's a lot for an entrepreneur that hasn't gone full-time, yet.

This is a different type of creator burnout than what you're probably used to hearing about where you are constantly posting to social media or creating content for your platforms.

Truth be told, I handle that kind of creator burnout the same way - Rest!

I've come to terms that I am a creative that just needs time to rest.

So attending the conference was just what I needed!

I gained so much from taking time off of both my job and my business.

The challenges I've been facing in my job have been leaving me left with nothing at the end of most days and yet, I've told myself, I still have more to give towards my dreams.

I challenged myself to keep getting in front of the camera, despite being dog-tired most nights to record my live streams.

In fact, I livestreamed every day in August, some nights my late-night livestreams wouldn't start till after I took a nap right before midnight.

This challenge came from a personal commitment that I also felt proud to say I accomplished after 31 days of consistency and it also left me extremely drained while adding to the stacking stress I was experiencing from my day job.

Have you ever made a commitment to yourself that you were proud of keeping but also felt tired after it was completed?

Both feelings can co-exist.

We hold in stress emotionally as well as in various parts of our bodies. For me, I hold stress in my jaw, my shoulders and my back.

The best ways I've found to help me to release stress is through mental, physical and spiritual rest.

First, I do not subscribe to the constant hustle mentality.

As I shared in a previous newsletter [There's No Freedom in the Workplace], I believe leisure is your right.

And so I had to release my mind from the shackles of thinking I owed anything to anybody in order to deserve rest.

Rest doesn't need to be earned, but if it did, know that you've already paid for it.

You've paid for it in energy, in thought, and for many of us, we've paid for it with the stress we place on our bodies when we push ourselves to the limit and refuse to take necessary breaks.

You exist and therefore deserve rest because labor is not something that should be required nor expected of anyone all the time.

Second, I've learned to stop working to take more water breaks, eat timed meals and take naps when my body needs it.

If you have ever been tired and tried to push through some work, you know that the result is usually mistakes or errors in your work and sometimes it even takes you longer to complete the task just because you keep dozing off.

Girl, just take a nap!

Rather than feeling guilty for needing to rest between my 9-5 work and my business, I decided to flip the flaw and incorporate this fact into my content by introducing myself on my late-night livestreams as "Your Favorite Sleepy Content Creator". This moniker continues to give me an opportunity to share why I value leisure as a right and its impact on my content schedule for my loyal audience.

Last, is a practice that should actually always be first. That's taking God at his word.

The Bible says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - (Matthew 11:28-30)

It gives me a great deal of peace and comfort to know that I can come to God and give him my heaviest burdens while picking up what he has for me, something as light as instructions on how to be gentle with myself, humble in my heart and rest for my weary soul.

Now you may not consider yourself to be religious or even a spiritual person, but know that these are three ways I've been able to find rest in my life and avoid creator burnout.

I advise you to seek out rest in the ways that bring you comfort and peace from your personal stressors.

Take from this week's newsletter that it is okay to rest when you need it because you've been paying for it mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Women, if you've found my story to be encouraging, my hope is that you'll join us at the next conference and give yourself the break you deserve - You've already paid for it!

Email me if you're interested in being my special guest in 2023 in Indianapolis, IN at the Midwest Women's Conference of the Churches of Christ at [email protected].