Life doesn’t just happen. If we don’t budget our money, we don’t have any. If we don’t put petrol in the car, it doesn’t go.
Our Relationships suffer if we don’t spend time with friends and family. The areas of our life that are important require us to schedule them like we mean it. Somehow, though, when we think about rest, we feel guilty about giving it the same level of focus and intent.
Rest is more than a good night’s sleep, and it’s not a reward for a hard week of work. Intentional rest is about setting time aside from stress and work to recharge. A school of thought suggests we need rest in seven different areas of our lives. These are creative, physical, spiritual, emotional, social, sensory, and mental. You can read more about these in my previous blog.
Small Intentional Moments Matter
Last year, my husband and I implemented a day of rest. We pre-plan and pre-cook meals, make sure all housework is done, and catch up on admin the day before. I have a lot happening with work, study, and a long drive to work, but I don’t have small kids at home, which makes this easier to accomplish. Not everyone is in a season where they can achieve a full day of rest. There are always ways to implement small intentional moments to rest across the week.
Intentional Rest Increases Productivity
If you are not in the habit of planning for rest, your first thought might be I don’t have time. Intentional rest, completely detaching from the stressors in our lives, actually increases our productivity. Here are some easy ways to implement intentional rest into your life
- Schedule it – Make an appointment with yourself. Put it on the calendar and don’t cancel, no matter what happens.
- Working? – Take a deliberate break. Close your eyes, back away from the computer and do some breathing exercises
- Got little ones? Get up ten minutes before them – have a coffee outside and think of three things to be thankful for
- Book a regular coffee date with a friend – Make it that friend who is like a warm blanket and a steaming hot coffee on a freezing cold day.
- Regularly disconnect – Pick a day once a week and turn your phone off or leave it in another room for a couple of hours.
- Buy an alarm clock – Leave your phone in another room at night and stop scrolling an hour before bed.
- Don’t start your day with the phone – Mobile phones trigger a dopamine release in our brain. Don’t start your day scrolling.
We don’t see rest as critical as everything else on our to-do list. In today’s culture, where being busy is celebrated and exhaustion is a badge of honour, we can live counter culturally. We can live, work, and rest with intent.
Article supplied with thanks to Lorrene McClymont.
About the Author: Lorrene McClymont is a writer and photographer from Hope Images. On her blog ‘Moments to Rest’, she shares about rest, faith, and family.
Feature image: Canva
