Can you relate to these scenarios?
You’re sitting at your desk trying to get the last part of a report completed after an already longer-than-expected day. You keep losing focus and need to go back and reread what you wrote several times. The text just isn’t flowing, but you can’t figure out why. You decide to set the report aside, grab a cup of coffee and check a few emails. When you return to the report a short time later, the words just seem to spill out onto the page, and you are able to finish the report quickly and head for home.
You had trouble crawling out of bed this morning. You’re just trying to get yourself motivated for the day ahead, when suddenly the proverbial light bulb comes on and you know just what you need to do to solve a problem you have been wrestling with for weeks.
Finally, you have some time off of work. You have been waiting for it, especially since you’ve been working on a project that just isn’t falling into place and you can’t figure out why. In the middle of the week, while strolling on the beach, listening to the water lapping the shore, looking at the blue sky above and feeling the warmth of the sun on your face, your vacation is interrupted by the sudden knowledge of what you need to do to make that project a success.
According to the authors of Time Off: A Practical Guide to Building Your Rest Ethic and Finding Success Without Stress (2020), these events should not be surprising because this is how our brains work when given the chance. According to John Fitch and Max Frenzel, both self-described former workaholics, if we force ourselves to stay “on-task” with one issue until it is resolved, we are likely being counterproductive to our own efforts. Rather, they describe the creative process outlined by Graham Wallace in the mid-1920s in which after a period of work on a project or issue (called preparation), one should give their conscious mind a rest (called incubation), allowing the idea to brew in their subconscious mind. The so-called “light bulb” moment (fittingly called illumination) is the result of that subconscious effort, which is followed by the last part of the process (called verification) in which additional work is completed consciously to see if the idea or solution has merit (p. 50). Because of this need for subconscious activity, the authors argue that we need time off — not necessarily vacation time, but rather time spent focusing on something else.
This description of how time off relates to our ability to be creative is only one example of the case made regarding the importance of self-care for realizing success. Starting with a description of how time has been defined throughout history, the authors view time off not as vacation time per se, but rather noble leisure, meaning “an activity in which we can find our greatest fulfillment as humans” (p. 15), which is distinct from work (something done for a purpose) or rest (something done to prepare to do more work).
Other chapters explore rest, sleep, exercise, solitude, reflection, play, travel, technology and the future of work. This latter chapter focuses on how artificial intelligence (AI) may enhance our opportunity to rebuild work culture in the image of noble leisure. This chapter also describes the importance of soft skills, like creativity and idea generation, in the rebuilt work culture — skills that are enhanced by healthy time off.
In addition to descriptions of what research has demonstrated regarding each of these areas of exploration and their importance to “time off,” each chapter includes opportunities for practice and reflection as well as two or more profiles of individuals whose approach to work and life demonstrate the interconnectedness of the chapter with the central theme of the book — namely that busy-ness does not necessarily equal productivity and time off is essential.
Check out more or get the book:
Contributed by: Charlotte A. Moser
Can you relate to these scenarios?
You’re sitting at your desk trying to get the last part of a report completed after an already longer-than-expected day. You keep losing focus and need to go back and reread what you wrote several times. The text just isn’t flowing, but you can’t figure out why. You decide to set the report aside, grab a cup of coffee and check a few emails. When you return to the report a short time later, the words just seem to spill out onto the page, and you are able to finish the report quickly and head for home.
You had trouble crawling out of bed this morning. You’re just trying to get yourself motivated for the day ahead, when suddenly the proverbial light bulb comes on and you know just what you need to do to solve a problem you have been wrestling with for weeks.
Finally, you have some time off of work. You have been waiting for it, especially since you’ve been working on a project that just isn’t falling into place and you can’t figure out why. In the middle of the week, while strolling on the beach, listening to the water lapping the shore, looking at the blue sky above and feeling the warmth of the sun on your face, your vacation is interrupted by the sudden knowledge of what you need to do to make that project a success.
According to the authors of Time Off: A Practical Guide to Building Your Rest Ethic and Finding Success Without Stress (2020), these events should not be surprising because this is how our brains work when given the chance. According to John Fitch and Max Frenzel, both self-described former workaholics, if we force ourselves to stay “on-task” with one issue until it is resolved, we are likely being counterproductive to our own efforts. Rather, they describe the creative process outlined by Graham Wallace in the mid-1920s in which after a period of work on a project or issue (called preparation), one should give their conscious mind a rest (called incubation), allowing the idea to brew in their subconscious mind. The so-called “light bulb” moment (fittingly called illumination) is the result of that subconscious effort, which is followed by the last part of the process (called verification) in which additional work is completed consciously to see if the idea or solution has merit (p. 50). Because of this need for subconscious activity, the authors argue that we need time off — not necessarily vacation time, but rather time spent focusing on something else.
This description of how time off relates to our ability to be creative is only one example of the case made regarding the importance of self-care for realizing success. Starting with a description of how time has been defined throughout history, the authors view time off not as vacation time per se, but rather noble leisure, meaning “an activity in which we can find our greatest fulfillment as humans” (p. 15), which is distinct from work (something done for a purpose) or rest (something done to prepare to do more work).
Other chapters explore rest, sleep, exercise, solitude, reflection, play, travel, technology and the future of work. This latter chapter focuses on how artificial intelligence (AI) may enhance our opportunity to rebuild work culture in the image of noble leisure. This chapter also describes the importance of soft skills, like creativity and idea generation, in the rebuilt work culture — skills that are enhanced by healthy time off.
In addition to descriptions of what research has demonstrated regarding each of these areas of exploration and their importance to “time off,” each chapter includes opportunities for practice and reflection as well as two or more profiles of individuals whose approach to work and life demonstrate the interconnectedness of the chapter with the central theme of the book — namely that busy-ness does not necessarily equal productivity and time off is essential.
Check out more or get the book:
Contributed by: Charlotte A. Moser