The Key to Productivity? Do Nothing!

This month's Gifted Leaders e-Newsletter features an article from the Mindful Blog. Thriving in our life and work requires activity coupled with regular periods of rest and renewal. We often overlook these dual dimensions of well-being in the busy lives we lead today.

Highlights from the Article

“How are you doing?”

Do you frequently answer that question by saying something like, “Real good, real busy”? There’s a subtle implication that we are good because we are busy. Is that true? Some very compelling research suggests the opposite.

Productive and creative cycles typically last only 90-120 minutes, so we need to take regular “renewal” breaks to reset our energy and attention.

Psychologist Anders Ericsson found that virtuoso violin players on average practiced for intervals lasting no more than 90 minutes, and no more than three sessions in the course of a day. Science clearly tells us that being deliberate about managing busyness and balancing it with dedicated, unstructured downtime – not attempting to do or accomplish anything at all – promotes greater energy, mental clarity, creativity, and focus all day long.

Thriving in our life and work requires activity coupled with regular periods of rest and renewal. We often overlook these dual dimensions of well-being in the busy lives we lead today. In a technology-ridden world with a social bias toward action – especially in the workplace – it’s easy to get addicted to being over busy. Many of us never truly value or allow ourselves the experience of taking time to do nothing.

Read the full article here.

The Gifted Perspective

“Busy” is the wrong answer to the question, “How are you doing?” If we had a dollar for every time somebody answered the question that way, we’d be in the market for a small island in the Caribbean.

We agree that it’s essential to avoid creating a schedule that’s overly busy. It’s a recipe for stress and potentially even burn out. Rich Fernandez advice is spot on, “Be deliberate about building in rest, renewal, and recovery time.”

We can assist you and your team in finding the right balance between activity and inactivity. Contact us today about individual leadership coaching or our Teams That Talk™ coaching approach!