If stress is critical to grow, rest is vital

In my last post, I talked about the importance of stress in growing yourself in a pursuit, skill, or hobby. Learning to be intentionally uncomfortable and being okay with it is what takes you to the next level. While positive stress is good for you, by itself pure stress (positive or negative) is unsustainable. In any pursuit, if you keep on stressing yourself you will burn out. Hate will take over and you will not want to carry on any more.

This reminds of the beautiful poem from my childhood:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low but the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Don't Quit by Edgar A. Guest

To some people, rest comes easy. But in our busy culture where workaholism is celebrated, taking breaks is becoming increasingly difficult. Knowledge workers will generally admit how they find it difficult to disconnect from work. The work-life boundary for those working from home is even more blurry. But in order to keep performing at your best, taking a break is not optional.

Taking a break is harder than enduring stress.

A top performer in any field will follow the stress + rest formula with a military discipline. Think about your favorite tennis star or football player and find out about their training regimes on YouTube. They will all have this formula in common.

Approach rest with the same vigor as your pursuit. Be more intentional about it. Take 10-20 minute breaks every 1.5 to 2 hours. When you are deep into something–writing a report, crafting a pull request, taking a course–it’s hard to plug off. You fear losing momentum. You fear losing your train of thoughts. You fear breaking your flow.

Mindfulness gives you the mental strength to turn yourself off. It’s a skill that can be developed by strengthening your mindful muscle by practicing meditation (from the book Peak Performance).

Additionally, storing your running thoughts in workingmemory.txt makes disconnecting and coming back frictionless, a technique emphasised in the Deep Questions podcast episode Ep. 309: Deep Habits.