A massage, an hour with a good book, leaving the office when you promised yourself you would.

Time with your partner, your family, your friends.

Time with your thoughts (if that’s not too scary!)

How often do you take the time to do any of these things? I guess not as much as you would like, and probably not enough.

If you are like many people, this may mean that you end up spending your days running around like a headless chicken, always busy, busy, but not heading in any particular direction.

At the end of the day you fall into bed exhausted and wonder why you can’t sleep, or why you never have the energy to introduce something new into your life.

Sooner or later, something breaks. Either you get sick for a period of weeks or you become completely unmotivated to do something you don’t get paid for. Or both.

“I need to rest,” you say, skipping training sessions, social events, trying new hobbies. Skip life.

Maybe you take some time off.

Invariably, this is not good. With each passing day, you become more self-indulgent and less prone to accomplishing even the smallest task. After about a week at home, it becomes unthinkable to even get dressed in the morning, let alone make the bed / buy groceries / get the mail.

The rot settles.

I once took a few days off from work. An opportunity to recover from the early hours of the morning and work on all my ideas.

By midmorning of the first day, I had become the most unproductive person on the face of the earth. I thought I had the whole day ahead of me, so why do anything now? This attitude helped me a lot until I had to go back to work.

‘I need a break,’ I told myself. ‘I’ll feel better after a few days of doing nothing.’

I was wrong.

If you’ve ever followed this path – a few days off ‘off’, or even the habit of continual ‘resting’ on the weekend or after work, then you’ll agree that you don’t just get lazier with each passing day . , but you also feel very bad about yourself.

Your confidence drops when you tell yourself that you are unable to do anything (mainly because you don’t even try), and you stop believing in your ability to accomplish even the smallest task (because you keep breaking commitments to yourself).

How do you spend your free time right now? Do you have a habit of doing nothing but eating at night? And often you don’t even bother to make a “real” dinner? Of spending each weekend ‘chilling out’ avoiding activity or even social interaction? To feel sorry for yourself for how hard you work? Of considering learning new skills, trying new hobbies, making new friends, but invariably pushing the idea away because you don’t want to get tired?

Maybe you have a great business idea on the shelf, one that you never have time to do because you need your downtime. Maybe you’ve let a close friendship fade because “break time” is more important.

Let me ask you something.

How is your energy? Your motivation. Your confidence in yourself?

And when you have something you absolutely must do, how efficient are you at getting the job done?

Rest is overrated.

Not relaxation. Relaxation is a positive hobby that helps you rejuvenate your body and mind. A massage, time with a friend, a hobby. Even lying on the couch watching mindless television.

The difference is that relaxation is something you actively choose to do to refresh yourself.

What it is not, is to let the hours or days go by while you break all the promises you have made to yourself or postpone each commitment you have made with others.

Not only does this not cool you down, it makes you even more tired. You lose passion, motivation, and interest in life. You become exhausted and listless. Slower.

Bored. For you and for others.

Rest is overrated.

Let’s consider a new plan: finding energy through productivity.

For me, this started with writing. I’ve always loved writing, I’ve always been good at it, and I always felt that eventually it might be something that contributes to a living.

As soon as I made a commitment to myself to start writing all of them, I noticed something amazing. Starting each day with 5 or 10 minutes of “daily” gave me ENERGY.

Suddenly, I was more productive, more enthusiastic for the rest of the day. When I added an article or copywriting in addition to my journal, I felt unstoppable.

Little by little, I created a new pattern. The rest time is equal to the writing time. Even for just a few minutes. I realized that this was a source of energy for me. I found that the more I followed my urge to write, the more energy and motivation carried over to the rest of my life.

In fact, I started to cross things off my list. Organizing my house, my business. My life. I even found time for some new hobbies. He joined a group of public speakers and began playing the piano again. I spend at least one night a week with my parents.

And the amazing thing: I still have time to do nothing. I have become one of those people who get things done. I am busier than ever. However, productively busy, not drowning headless busy.

And how I feel alive, energetic, enthusiastic. Driven.

The rot is gone and will not return.

This week, I challenge you to break the rest pattern. What is something you’ve always wanted to do? Learning a new skill, trying a hobby, catching up with an old friend? Maybe even clean your house in the spring. The next time you have some free time, I want you to commit to doing something before you rest.

Why not make it a habit? Time for you no longer means time to rest. Instead, find your energy and renew your passion for life, before you completely forget how living should feel.

Life is now. Press play.

Copyright Katrina Eden, August 2007.