The Value of Down-time

It is common to respond to being overwhelmed  by work or tasks in three ways;

1) to force yourself to focus more intently on tasks at hand without breaks,

2) to work more hours in a week, month or year

3) to avoid the efficiency trap and instead, work smarter

This said, you may ask, what does work smarter mean? It is not about doing more in less time. Rather, it is about paying more attention to what is going on within you during down-time (when you are not consciously task-oriented).  This is about recalling what it feels like to tune into and be aware of what is going on within you, body-mind-spirit. (That's right, all of you, not only mental chatter.)

Thus, you no longer schedule critical tasks when you are mentally drained and you are more informed to let go of what is no longer necessary.  Take a moment to reflect what it feels like to maximize effectiveness.  Grow conscious of distractions and eliminate them. Reflect on your inspirational mentors today. Who is inspiring you to review how you perceive and use time? 

Comments

[Bern]

Working smarter is to play and to be intimate with the task at hand. When we labor, we just want to get through something, and therefore we are noticing time and how long it takes to do something that our heart isn't really into. To be smart at working is to not feel like you are working at all and that what you are doing has meaning that makes you come to life when interacting with the subject. Are we growing with what we are connecting with or performing. Are we in alignment with the task. Have we become the motion and the movement of what we are engaged with. Do we feel at one and at peace with what we are giving our attention to? Down time is being more up with what is happening in this moment.

[2b]

Physical pain is the chattering of the body whose noise is from a screaming child whose wish is to be loved and pampered.

[Liara Covert]

Bern, love how you intuit working smarter is about moving beyond the language and effort of "work." Being smart here is not about forcing things to get done. Rather, it is about surrendering to and allowing forces beyond us to flow and merging or aligning with that. Listening to ourselves allows us to be one with the flow.

This topic arose during one of my recent guided rainforest hikes. When one is engaged in expressing and sharing love, whatever form that takes, the sense of work does not arise. In fact, details seem to fall into place and take care of themselves. Clarity arises. You simply know what it makes sense to do, and do that. Opportunities are created or noticed. Clients find us based on a vibration of magnetic attraction. Money and all we require to sustain ourselves also comes to us in proportion to the rate at which we allow love of life to flow.

[Bern]

I am applying the reality of not working daily as i am reprogramming my body and mind to be able to run or jog on and off all day long so as to cover long distances through the wilderness. I know i can walk all day and catch the flow, and so now i want to know that i can jog as well while carrying a pack for ultra light endurance training. The body and its muscles are in motion throughout the day, so why not create a new motion to flow with. Typically, people think that it takes effort to walk up a hill and reach the top, and then all they can see is getting back home. But what if we are always exactly where we want to be. In that moment of being at home, one is no longer working or striving towards anything. The search is over and one catches the crest of the wave which carries them into new effortless discoveries. One is only working if they are not where they desire to be. Be where you are at, and life looks and feels becoming.