There’s a diminishing return to hard work.
At a certain point, more becomes less.
In 2007, Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, was working at home when she suddenly fell and woke up in a pool of her own blood. She had been working 18-hour days and collapsed from exhaustion.
Hard work solves a lot of problems, but you’re not designed to fly around the globe in one go. Everyone needs to learn how to land the plane.
Rule of thumb. Rest and recovery should equal your work experience in both quality and quantity. Doctors’ orders.
Sabine Sonnetage from the University of Mannheim discovered that failing to disconnect from work leads to exhaustion and reduces one’s ability to limit stress.
Here’s where it gets tricky. Netflix and beach vacations won’t cut it. You must find another activity. Another thing to get your mind off the main thing.
A hobby, if you will.
Winston Churchill painted landscapes. The writer David Sedaris picks up trash on the street after work. Chris Bosh plays the guitar.
What do I do? I train for marathons and write a lot :)
Netflix and mindlessly scrolling TikTok are not an effective use of downtime. There’s just not enough emotional distance between your work and your phone.
So, do something that requires thinking. Something that takes your mind off the main thing.
Do that activity as much as you can, then go the fuck to sleep.