How many times have you said or heard someone say “if only I had four more hours in the day?” “Maybe I should learn how to not sleep.”
We are a society that is told to push, pain is gain, keep going, don’t stop or you will never get ahead. One of my favorites that I’ve heard over the years is “you can sleep when you’re dead.” My spin on that is, “or,you will find yourself dead because you don’t sleep.”
How could it be possible to do less to accomplish more? It’s a funny thing, this body that we shack up in. We are offered many sign posts along the way, signs that we have over extending ourselves, and over doing it, sore, and so on. But we have our trusty friends espresso, nuclear powered energy drinks that make your insides yellow and eyeballs red, and heaps of other options that keep you ‘fighting this battle.’
Just like our brains cannot actually multitask (sorry to anyone that is reading this debunked myth for the first time!), our bodies cannot reap the benefits of anything we do if we are not giving it adequate rest and restoration time. During sleep our bodies detoxify and restore. Just like the deep healing a savasana offers after a yoga practice, sleep allows your body to process everything-to ultimately catch up with what has happened that day-think dreams.
If we had more hours in a day, would we ever draw boundaries and our lines to give ourselves that R&R that is looked down upon in our society but not others? If we fly from one thing to the next thing, ticking the boxes, we have no time to enjoy the savasana, no time to reflect on the little successes that we accomplish throughout our day. So then comes the snowball effect, weare tr
ying to play catch up with our emotions, our bodies, and our tasks; alas, 5 PM, we are found at the nearby happy hour, devoid of awareness or presence. Rinse, wash, and repeat.
Doing less to accomplish more doesn’t mean sitting in front of the TV all day or saying no to all friends and obligations. It’s prioritizing and being selective on what is going to compliment your greater good. When we do slow down and give ourselves that rest, thinking time, or that white space, we are able to see our bigger picture clearer. When we can do that, we can nix what no longer needs to take up space, we can also structure more intentional plans and goals that may even save us time, money, and energy in the midst of it!
Ask yourself these questions the next time you are overwhelmed with the feelings of “do more!!!”
1. What are you trying to do in your life and do these
activities align with your greater good?
2. When I wake up tomorrow, would my life be impacted positively or negatively if I go forward with xyz?
3. Am I doing this out of fear, or guilt or am I saying yes for me because I choose to?
4. If I say yes, will I be present? All of me.
I ask you to challenge yourself to take a stand to do less to accomplish more. There will never be more hours in a day (and thank god for that-we would all be even more crazy), so choose! What does your body want today? Does that activity align with your goals in this moment?
