Do you think that you are a bad person when you relax instead of working? Is it one of your beliefs that taking time off is unnecessary? Are you sure that doing nothing is an attitude of laziness?

Have you ever felt burned out because you overworked yourself? Have you ever had stress symptoms that made it impossible for you to continue working on your projects? Have you ever become sick since you didn’t take enough care of yourself?

The truth about work and relaxation

For each phase of productivity, we need a phase of relaxation that allows us to recharge our batteries and to generate new energy for upcoming projects. We should follow the example of competitive athletes: After each phase of strong activity we should calm down, relax and loosen ourselves including soul, mind and body. We cannot be in a relaxed state when our muscles are tense.

If we don’t accept that we need relaxation in between projects, we slowly but steadily get burned out. Feeling burned out makes it impossible for us to continue working on our projects because we have a lack of energy in this state.

Don’t forget that it is a part of life sometimes to do nothing. For some people this part is very hard since they believe that busy people are better people, or since they cannot stand the thoughts that they have when they do nothing. Doing nothing should be included in your schedule from time to time, anyway, no matter if you like it or not.

You are not a better human because you keep yourself busy all day long. When we cannot stand doing nothing, we should gently ask ourselves why. Is there something in our life that we haven’t faced yet even though we should? What is troubling us when we do nothing? Do we believe that we are not valuable humans when we are not active?

Will relaxation help us to become more productive?

The mean attention span of a human being is about 45 minutes. This means that the average human needs a pause after 45 minutes of paying attention. This pause shouldn’t be longer than 10 to 15 minutes

When we relax, we move from a tense state of activity into a state of alpha waves that makes us very creative and gives us new ideas that we wouldn’t get otherwise. Therefore, we should not only relax between projects, but also between short time intervals that we work on a project. When we follow these relaxation times, we set our full creative potential free for the project. The goals are attained more easily and the results are even better.

Time of relaxation that we spend with family and friends makes us happier in life and creates new energy for upcoming projects. When we spend time with supportive people, we gain new insights, and we get out of isolation.

Always remember that you have not only the right to relax between activities, but that you also have the duty to do so if you want to stay healthy and live your life with the most possible energy!

We can choose between different methods of relaxation:

- Going for a walk (with or without dog)
- Exercising
- Meditation
- Sports
- Yoga
- Reading a book that you always wanted to read
- Taking one or more days off
- Only doing what you like without any rules
- Hiking in the mountains
- Getting a massage
- Attending a wellness spa
- Listening to music that you like
- Meeting friends inside or outside the house
- Painting
- Writing about something you always wanted to write about
- Playing an instrument
- Lying on a sofa or bed and just doing nothing

Can you come up with other ideas?

Make your personal list of activities or inactivities that relax you.

Is it possible to relax too often?

Yes, of course it is. With relaxation it is the same as with everything else in life. Finding the right dose for you is important. You should relax so often that you don’t get feelings of burn out, and that you have enough energy to work on your projects. The relaxation intervals between short periods that you are working on your projects should be short too. Try to find out how much relaxation you need by testing different options.

I suggest you to find some activities that have a relaxing effect on you and that you love doing. The more you like these activities, the simpler it will be for you to make a regular habit out of doing them. Make consistent relaxation a constant habit in your life. When you relax regularly, the effects on your life and projects are ideal.