A Different Approach to Productivity

I hope you all had an amazing holiday season surrounded by those you love. I am enjoying a “de-load” week, so to speak, and thought I’d share the thought process.

In strength and conditioning, we have “de-load” weeks where we purposefully step the foot off the gas, lowering volume and intensity, in an effort to maximize recovery so that the next period of training is fruitful.

I believe we need the same in life.

I tend to do a really poor job with creating “de-load” weeks in my life. I will just go from one project to the next, gradually wearing myself down over time. In 2022, I attempted to combat this by blocking off a week each quarter in my calendar for purposeful rest.

…I neglected all of these.

Coaching clients got scheduled. Books got written. MBJJ required this or that.

I did a poor job “de-loading”. In the new year, I am making a concerted effort to be better at this. Here’s why…

We are athletes. Knowledge athletes. I believe our professional lives should mirror the periodization of sport, because we do play a sport. We are professionals. But the field has changed. And so has the game.

I like the idea of “training” (working) like an athlete (knowledge worker). We should have preparation phases, sprints, and rest. We cannot “be on the go” 52 weeks a year. An athlete who does this burns out and makes far less progress than the athlete who builds in de-load phases throughout the year.

I posit that professionally we are no different.

Going into 2023, I am approaching my work life like an athlete. With clear goals, clear seasons of heavy workload, and very clear seasons of de-load and rest.

My gut says this is the best thing we can do for our productivity.

Rest is the antecedent to action, and therefore, an aspect of action. We celebrate the action, but not the rest which makes the action possible.

And so, as we approach the new year, I will once again be blocking off purposeful periods of rest throughout the year. May I have the discipline to honor the calendar and apply these laws of strength and conditioning to my life! Should I be successful, my life will be improved.

I wish the same for you in the new year. I wish you great action, and to make this possible, I wish you great rest.

Looking forward to a new year together,
Chris