The Most Productive Thing You Can Do

The topic of rest and sleep keeps coming up in conversations with clients, with friends, and with fellow working moms, because… well because we’re TIRED.

We’re having to fit work, childcare, household responsibilities, and homeschooling into each and every day and it can feel next to impossible.

When it all doesn’t fit, something has to go, and that something is usually sleep.

Even when not sleeping means losing focus throughout the day, responding impatiently to your kids, or snapping at your husband.

Sleep, or lack of sleep, impacts so much of how we show up each and every day.

We know this, yet it’s so hard to prioritize.

But what if we get creative?

Do As I Say Not as I do

My toddler has entered the stage of protesting bedtime.

As I try to calm him down, I whisper a reminder to him that he needs sleep.

I remind him that,

“Sleep is good.
Your body needs rest to grow.
Your mind needs rest to process and learn.”

We encourage our kids to sleep. Not just because we want a break, but because we know that getting 10, 11, 12 hours of sleep a night is what their bodies need to grow and to learn and to develop.

But we tell ourselves that as adults, we don't need sleep.

We tell ourselves that we’re not evolving or growing anymore, so we don't need it as much.

Sleep dictates how we show up

Last week, we were between nannies so my husband and I were splitting childcare and virtual school responsibilities while also trying to work at the same time. I ended up logging in to work after the kids went to bed and my bedtime got later and later as the week went on.

Now that our new nanny has started, I'm finally getting some dedicated work time. But I’m having trouble focusing. My mind feels sluggish and my ideas aren't flowing. I'm having trouble being productive, which if you know me, is very unusual!

It finally dawned on me that I’m tired. My body is trying to tell me to rest and to slow down.

But I keep telling myself this story that if I rest, I won't get anything done. I won't be able to finish the work that I need to finish. I won't be able to keep up with virtual school or with what the kids need.

But the truth is, I'm not being very productive as it is. So wouldn't it make more sense to give my body the rest that it needs?

The most productive thing

There’s a common belief that sleeping is the opposite of being productive.

But what if it's the most productive thing we can do?

Just like our kids who use that time to regenerate and to process all the things that they're learning. What are we missing out on by not allowing ourselves time to rest?

Maybe you agree with me. Maybe you see the value of rest and believe that it makes everything better.

But you’re stuck on those other things - the work, the house, the kids, the chores. Everything else is more urgent. How do you prioritize rest?

Answer me this:

• Is everything that you’re prioritizing over sleep truly more important?

• What is the impact of you not getting enough rest?

  • Is it your health, your relationships, your ability to focus, your motivation, your stress levels?

  • When you aren’t resting, what else in your life is impacted?

• What are your thoughts about sleep and rest? What are the stories that you're telling yourself?

  • Are you telling yourself that sleep is not productive?

  • Are you telling yourself that it's not a good use of your time?

  • Maybe you've gone without sleep or rest for periods of time before and survived, so why can’t you do it again?

• Once you’ve identified how you truly feel about sleep, what could you tell yourself instead?

  • For example, I've been working on reminding myself that sleep is productive. That sleep is the most productive thing I can do.

An experiment

I would like to challenge you to run an experiment:

For the next week, can you make one simple, daily change to get a little more rest and see how you feel? If you don’t feel any better, then you can scrap it and go back to getting by on as little as you can fit into your day.

That one simple change could be:

• Going to bed 30 minutes earlier each night.

• Instituting family quiet hour on the weekends or during the day if your kids are home with you. Everyone rests.

• Taking a 15 minute break in your workday to step away from your laptop and rest. Maybe you just sit with your feet up, maybe you meditate, maybe you close your eyes.

What can you do this week to see how a little extra rest feels?

Because maybe, just maybe, it is the most productive thing you can do.