In the business and self-care world, we are always talking about the value of rest. It is something we ALL hear almost weekly, if not daily, but how often do we ever actually put it into practice?
I remember when I took my management class in college that changed the trajectory of my life completely. The professor looked over the classroom of sleep-deprived, over-committed, and status-driven business students, and he told us to take naps at work. He said that if you are going through your day and it just feels like nothing is getting done or that you are walking through literal mud, shut your door, grab your hidden pillow, crawl under your desk, and take a 45-minute nap.
He sounded crazy, and most managers would absolutely die if they walked into their employees’ office and saw them curled up under the desk. Me? I think he is absolutely brilliant. I have experimented with this theory many times. I haven’t curled up under my desk necessarily, but I am a huge believer in using my lunch break to get a little shut-eye, or even taking a day to myself when life is really getting to be too much.
The past few weeks have been insane for me when it comes to content creation, maintaining friendships, being authentic, getting my paid job done, and the list goes on, so this past weekend I took a nap, like a really long nap, for the FIRST time in months, if not a year.
I honestly could have argued so many reasons not to take the time. I typically allow the guilt of all the things “I have to get done,” take over. Here are the three things that made me very aware that a nap was a necessity, not an option. I have invested too much. I had to prevent complete burnout.
I had to buy a freaking guard for my mouth because I was clenching my teeth that hard.
Y’all. This hasn’t been a problem for me since my freshman year of college. I remember my first year in school having constant headaches and neck pain no matter how much I stretched and massaged my temples. It wasn’t until I noticed a small chip on the back of my front tooth that I discovered it had to be related to my teeth. I did a ton of research and found that teeth clenching is super common in high-stress seasons, and it can cause extreme tension throughout the whole body.
When these symptoms showed their ugly face last week, I knew exactly what was going on. I had a mind-numbing headache for days, and my shoulders just could not seem to relax, no matter how much yoga I did. So, I bought a mouth guard (which literally worked like magic) and took a nap! Here is a link to the mouth guard I used if you struggle with nighttime clenching, too! http://bit.ly/MouthGuardAWM *Not an affiliate link, just sharing the goods with you!
I dreaded all the plans I had made at the beginning of the week.
This should have been the most significant indicator that I needed to take a break. If you know anything about me, you know that one of my favorite things in the whole world is making plans with pals. Very rarely do I spend an entire day without having coffee, dinner, or a workout with a friend.
When Thursday rolled around to my happy hour plans with one of my best girls, I knew something was off. I could not get my mind unfogged or energy where it needed to be. I felt like my candle had been burning from both ends, and all that was left was an ugly nub of wax.
That same energy infected my Friday night and Saturday morning plans as well. I was down with the sickness…the sickness of being exhausted.
My diet always goes down the drain, and this was no exception
I should know by now when I start eating cheese…I need to rest. For those who don’t know this about me, I am allergic to dairy in the way that it is an inflammatory and causes all kinds of problems when it comes to my thyroid and hormones. I am VERY particular about when it is worth it to cheat because month-long periods are incredibly awful.
When I say picky about cheating, I am talking fancy cheese curds with jalapenos and raspberry sauce or super fancy ice cream on vacation.
So when I ordered bean and cheese burritos twice this week, I knew something was up.
Whenever I get stressed or tired, the first thing to go is my self-control when it comes to food. Usually, I can keep myself in the gym, showing up to work, and attending any events I’m committed to, but when it comes to food, screw it.
I think it has to do with how easy it is to swing by and pick up burritos or eat Oreos for dinner when they are the only type of grocery you have in your entire house.
It doesn’t help that I was dealing with self-induced stress and exhaustion, but on top of all of that, I was causing myself to bloat and feel like actual crap because of the food I was eating.
Something had to give, and I didn’t want it to be my health.
You need to be able to identify what it looks like when you need rest and use that to prevent burnout.
The reason I write all of this out for you is that I wanted to show you what it looks like to reflect on taking action. It wouldn’t make any difference if I took note of these three things I was dealing with if I decided it wasn’t worth working through. I identified three signs that my body and mind were trying to tell me, and I did something about it.
This past Saturday, I got home from brunch, and I told myself I had to stay in bed for at least a few hours. I could read, write, sleep, whatever I wanted, but I had to do it with the lights low cozied up in my bed in my PJs. The second my body hit the mattress, I knew a nap was the answer. I set the alarm for one hour to prevent losing my whole afternoon. I slept so well, and then I was able to spend the next few hours reading, content creating, and planning my evening.
I am telling you, whatever your body and mind are telling you…please do it! All of those projects, assignments, scheduled events can wait. To be your most productive an impactful self, you HAVE to learn to rest. It is not a negotiation. It is non-negotiable.
I challenge you to write down three things you think your body and mind are trying to tell you. Now, address those things through rest, nutrition, exercises, or whatever you know will work best. What are you waiting for? Complete burnout?
