Sunday Musings: Breaks vs. Burnouts, Doing the Right King of Work, It Can't be Changed Until it is Faced.

November 3rd, 2024

Happy Sunday Friends!

Here is 1 quote I’m musing, 2 Ideas, 3 of my favorite things from the week, and 1 question. If you find it useful or interesting, please feel free to forward this along to some friends or others!

One Quote I’m Musing

“The mind must be given to relaxation, it will rise improved and shaper after a good break. Just as rich fields must not be forced…so constant work on the anvil will fracture the mind”

-Seneca

So, I had the opportunity to take some downtime this week. I took two days to do absolutely nothing. I was worthless. I read a bit, I watched some movies, I played video games. Why? Because I’ve been burnt out. I made some work calls when I needed to, when people didn’t respond, I didn’t worry about it. If it was important, they’d call me back. If it became important, they’d call me back. If not, oh well. I’m going to my nothing box.

This lax state has helped me recharge and I feel more motivated coming back to the real world tomorrow than I have in weeks. Shockingly, some of my reading turned to this notion. Both Seneca and Rufus had opposing thoughts; both of them helped me coalesce my thoughts. Taking a break is important.

Burnout is the Enemy (Taking a Break Isn’t). In one of the moments I disagree with the ancient stoics, Musonius Rufus said that “to let one’s mind go lax is, in effect, to lose it.” Even then, hustle culture was prevalent. We’re too important to take a break, the stakes are too high, taking a break isn’t my style, taking a break is being lazy.

So, we never relax. Never shut off our minds. We never check out, let go, never recharge. And, far too often, we hit burnout. ?

Taking a break is not your enemy; it’s burnout. It is entirely normal to feel tired, especially when we’ve been working on a project for an extended period. Even our bodies shut down at night after a day’s work. In case you haven’t noticed, we often start feeling sick when we don’t get enough rest. we simply cannot cheat nature.

Everything Needs Rest, Even You and Your Brain

The image above is a great visualization, it also has base as a real-world comparison. What happens when we drain a battery to absolute zero? Electrical Engineering tells us that the cell, and the supporting pins and systems around it, become less effective, more difficult to recharge, and may become permanently damaged: Lose ability to fully recharge, sometimes the ability to recharge at all.

Computers must be shut down and rebooted, engines need to be turned off and cooled, land must be given rest via alternated crops. If these don’t happen, we end up with poorer yields, risk of injury and damage to the system.

The same for humans. There is no perpetual peak performance. We begin to lose efficiency, productivity. Eventually spending hours on something and achieving little.

Rest Returns Your Productivity. “Give me six hours to chop down a tree,” Abraham Lincoln famously said, “and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” We are more productive through preparation and planning. Knowing, and planning to take a break after the sharpness and excitement of beginning the project begins to dull. Fatigue sets in, determination might let us forget to shower, eat, or sleep. Then we have burnout setting in.

Convincing ourselves to take a break – rest, sleep, indulge in some nothing-box, or activities with friends and family will be like recharging our batteries. Taking that break is usually all we need. A change of perspective when we return, or simply a mental rest. Rather than hindering the progress, like Lincoln’s axe, we come back able to minimize the total time on task and maximize the quality of our efforts rather than spending time and achieving nothing, or a sub-par result.

Words are a reflection of our inner state - our emotions, knowledge, and wisdom at the time. When we act impulsively, we risk overshadowing our best selves, the people philosophy wants us to be, with our worst impulses. Taking that little bit of extra time. To pause, to breathe, to think before responding can be all that is necessary to foster a deeper connection instead of creating a misunderstanding. The key is knowing ourselves, accepting our need for relaxation, and planning for it.

Preparing to Break Keeps Us From Planning to Fail. As we dive into our project, consider spending the time envisioning what the successful completion of it looks like. What are you celebrating with your friends? What did the end result accomplish and why was it great? How did you make it great?

Part of that will be planning transition times and blocking time for reflection and rest time.

When you’ve been on task for a while and start to feel your mind wander, or spin on an element, it’s likely time for a break. If you’re feeling tired or burnt out, it’s definitely time for a break. Don’t waste your time and effort achieving nothing.

If this isn’t motivation enough, remember that if we push ourselves too hard, our body will eventually break down, and we’ll end up spending more time away from our precious projects than we’d like. Work in moderation while you can, or else you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

If you’ve been working all day and are burning the midnight oil or through the weekend do yourself a favor and take a well-deserved break. You’ll be glad you listened.

Not sure how to plan for breaks? Try starting the Pomodoro Technique, it’s in my favorite things from others section below.

Two Ideas From Me

1. Often, by relaxing, doing less gives us a two-fold benefit. We not only eliminate the unnecessary, but what we do is done better. Better because we aren’t distracted by the rest.
2. The point of productivity isn’t to work ourselves into the ground. It is to do the right kind of work with acts according to our nature.

Three Favorite Things From Others

1. “Start at once a bedside library and spend the last half-hour of the day in communion with the saints of humanity. There are great lessons to be learned from Job and from David, from Isaiah and St. Paul. Taught by Shakespeare you may take your intellectual and moral measure with singular precision. Learn to love Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Should you be so fortunate as to be born a Platonist, Jowett will introduce you to the great master through whom alone we can think in certain levels, and who's perpetual modernness startles and delights. Montaigne will teach you moderation in all things, and to be ‘sealed of his tribe’ is a special privilege.” | William Osler – Founder of John Hopkins University
2. “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” | James Baldwin
3. The Pomodoro Technique -

One Question

Next time you’re feeling stressed or anxious take that as your cue. Let it be the command to stop and analyze.?Ask yourself: Where is this coming from? Am I bringing this on myself?

Have a wonderful week,

I’ll see you Sunday.

-e