Creating a Schedule That Prioritizes Rest

Most people rest at the end of the day when they’ve checked everything else off their lists. For some, they work hard all week and look forward to the weekend. And then there are those that lose track of time and work takes over our schedules. This is the hamster wheel I often find myself on if I'm not intentional. What’s the age-old motto? Work before play!

Getting your work done is the responsible thing to do and rest is more of a reward than a naturally occurring activity. For my health, I've had to create a schedule that prioritizes rest, and I can actually enhance my productivity and incentivize my work. My work schedule has evolved quite a bit in the last few months as I make rest a priority. Here’s how you can prioritize your rest:

Scheduling rest promotes a better work/rest rhythm

Scheduling rest into your workday helps you set a rhythm. If you know that you are going to log off work at a specific time to engage in rest, it helps you set your day up and helps you concentrate. Knowing you are going to take a break at a certain time or complete your day at a certain time helps you make the most of your on-duty time.

As an Achievement Coach, I help my clients discover their purpose, set personal and professional goals, design the plan to accomplish their goals, and become their accountability partner supporting their success. As a coach, I have my own coaches to help me stay accountable for my goals; I have a health coach, business coaches, and belong to several masterminds for professional and personal development.

For me, I also rely on living the philosophy of the Indian Proverb A House With Four Rooms that states we should think of ourselves as having four rooms (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) and we must do something daily in each to become a complete person. This philosophy is foundational to my membership and coaching practice. It's also important to my life and health because it helps me balance work and play.

Tip: Use a daily planner to schedule rest. Take a break mid-morning and walk around the block and eat some healthy protein. This helps your mind and body refreshed until the afternoon. Schedule a definite stop time for work and be sure to list any other activities you have during the day so you can easily see when and how to work rest into your schedule.  

Scheduling vacations gives you something to work towards

Something that has become very important to me is traveling and vacation time. Sometimes I'm lucky when my work overlaps and I'm able to combine the two. I start by intentionally scheduling my time and planning my yearly goals, vacations, and business obligations. To do this, start at the beginning of each calendar year, schedule goals, vacations, and obligations. This helps you work towards your trip financially and emotionally. Seeing that trip coming up helps energize and motivate keeping your eye on the prize. Whether it’s an extended weekend here and there or a couple of annual get-aways, putting them on the calendar helps you mentally prepare for the rest you and your family need.

Tip: use a year-at-a-glance wall calendar to display your annual schedule. Having your trips on the schedule can help keep you energized and motivated about the breaks coming your way throughout the year. It can help make your work time feel less stressful and remind you what you are working toward. 

Being smart with your schedule increases your productivity

Building your schedule around rest can make you more productive. Taking the time to consider the frequency and type of rest that you benefit from most can help you prioritize your schedule and make you more efficient. If you know you love to work out before or after work, it makes sense to schedule gym time and build your workday around it. If you know you are a morning person, it makes sense to work early and schedule off-duty time for the afternoon.

 As an Achievement Coach, I have several simple strategies and systems that help my clients accomplish much more by working smarter, not harder. Even with this said, there are times that schedules and life circumstances trip us up; for me, I've had some health issues that have caused some hiccups with my plans. For example, my blogging schedule has seen a huge interruption in the last couple of months due to several issues and obligations. I'm working on ways to keep sharing the lessons from A Pilgrimage to Self Lifestyle Coaching because they are powerful and do change lives.

One of the strategies I teach is called Top 3...it's a simple process of identifying your top three personal and professional goals for the year and breaking them down into the top three monthly, weekly, and daily actions. In this way, we practice the Japanese technique of Kaizen by doing small and consistent actions to make progress and achieve our goals.

Well, the last few months self-care, personal and professional obligations, and health care appointments have taken over and trumped my Top 3. This means I haven't been able to prepare blog posts and schedule them regularly because other obligations made my daily Top 3 (and more). To improve my work-life balance, I've worked on a new schedule for my professional and personal obligations that I describe in the tip below.

Tip: Start your week on Wednesday. Plan your week from Wednesday and move outward from there. If you are wise, you can create a schedule with Mondays and Fridays free for rest and relaxation by placing the focus on activities midweek. 

Creating a schedule that prioritizes rest can help you be more efficient, have more time for yourself, and keep you motivated all year long. Learning to build rest into your schedule and reaping the physical and mental benefits of rest with ease should be a priority.

In what ways do you schedule rest? When we follow the philosophy of A House With Four Rooms...available on Amazon...we prioritize self-care. You can schedule walks, naps, vacations, bubble baths, and any number of renewal treats. Remember, you are worth it!

Until next time...

Lisa

P.S. When you get a copy of my ebook  A House With Four Rooms on Amazon, make sure to use the link for the free companion workbook. The print version will be available soon! As a reader, please rate and review the book so Amazon's algorithm will show it to other readers. Thank you!