The Case for Strategic Laziness

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My name is Brooks Formation Efficiency where we help people become more productive at work and in life, and today is another Wisdom Wednesday episode where you'll get actionable productivity advice in less than 10 minutes. And the topic today is related to the concept of renewal rituals, and that is how to build renewal in cheer day. It's one of the skills we teach in our 25X Productivity System course, and it's hard, right? We always hear you need to take breaks or downtime is important, or you're more productive if you rest. But how do you do that when you're so busy, when you barely have time to respond to emails, or get your kids out the door to school on time? Well, I used to feel that way too. I'd go, go, go through the day because I just didn't have time, and it might be counterintuitive, but I felt it even more when I started working from home. I started working from home permanently about 13 years ago, and because I didn't have any of the usual cues to take a break that we have only working in office, it was just so easy to grind, grind, grind. I'd find that I was sitting there tired, hungry, with an empty water bottle, and I'd look at the clock and I'd think, how the heck is it five o'clock already? Well, the thing that I found, and I think most of us know this deep down, is having some sort of renewal during the day, is crucial for your mental and your physical health, and it can actually make you more productive through the course of the day and through the course of a week. The thing though, is we think of renewal rituals as these disruptive breaks that destroy our flow, but if you can build renewal into your day, it really doesn't have to be that way. So we should probably start by addressing the question that you might be asking yourself, which is, what is a renewal ritual? Is that like a fancy productivity podcast way to say, take a break? Well, to be honest, sort of, but the key is not to just take a break, but make it a routine or a ritual. Make it so that you just automatically take breaks or otherwise recharge in some ways, just as something you do pretty much automatically. It's kind of like shoulder checking when you drive or when you ride a bike. You hopefully aren't going to shoulder check just when you feel like you should, right? It's something that you just automatically do every time you change lanes, and we want renewal to be pretty much the same thing. All right, so how do we get there? Well, here are some ways to build renewal into your day. The first one is to take micro breaks. And when I say micro, I mean micro. I'm talking about when you are switching between tasks, when you're waiting for something to happen, when maybe you've just sat down at your desk from going to the washroom, or otherwise you just have a few moments. Just close your eyes for 10 seconds and take a deep breath, and it can really help get you centered. And if you do this throughout the day, it can actually be really recharging. That's number one. Number two is use the Pomodoro timer or otherwise scheduled breaks. This is pretty common productivity the advice. The reason for that is it works, right? If you've listened to the podcast for a while, you're going to be familiar with the Pomodoro technique. The basic idea, though, is you work for about 25 minutes, then you rest for five, then you repeat, and maybe you have some longer breaks mixed in. Now, maybe you want to work longer than 25 minutes. That's totally fine. The key is not to focus so much on the amount of time that you work. The key is actually to put more focus on the rest part. That's what makes the working part possible. And what you do doesn't really matter as long as it some sort of rest or recovery. One of the biggest growth hacks is realizing that you don't have to do it all yourself. Upwork makes it easy to bring in the right freelancer when you need them, so you can stay focused on what you do best. Upwork also cuts down operational hassle by handling things like contracts and payments in one place, so you can spend more time running the business. It's free to sign up and posting a job is super easy. That's UPWORK.com. Upwork.com. And I will say that you probably don't want to do something like email or social media. It feels like a break, but it's not really. And it actually generally makes us more dead. So try and do something that really is restful. Even if you don't want to follow the Pomodoro technique, that's totally fine. Just try to follow the idea of scheduling or working some sort of structured breaks into your day. It will really make a huge difference. The third strategy is to disconnect for a little bit. Having your email open all day or your phone constantly lighting up can just grind you down whether you realize it or not. And I'm not going to say put your phone out of the room or shut down for an hour. If you can do that, that's great. But maybe you can do it for like 15 minutes here and there just maybe put your phone upside down or close down outlook. And I'm not saying again to do it all day, but just do it for periods here and there so that you can have that little bit of disconnection from this constant bombarding of stuff that comes out us all the time. The fourth strategy is to shift your working location for a bit. So can you get away from the noise of people around you and work somewhere quiet for a bit or on the flip side, maybe you find it more energizing to switch it up and work in a cafe or something like that around other people in that white noise. Again, I'm not saying that you need to do this all day, but even an hour or so can really energize you in a surprising way. The fifth strategy is to introduce friction that leads to movement. So if you want to take breaks to bust out some push ups or some squats or some yoga poses or something throughout the day, go for it. But that's not really what I'm talking about. This might again be counterintuitive because productivity is all about removing friction, right? But this is one case where you may want to consider increasing friction. You may want to consider making it so that in order to do certain things, you need to get up and move. So maybe you're putting the printer or the scanner on the other side of the room so that you have to get up and walk to it. Or maybe you want to get off at one metro stop earlier on the way into the office so that you get a bit of a walk-in before work. One thing I do is I intentionally use a smaller water bottle so that I have to go upstairs and refill it throughout the day. This forces me both to take breaks and also to walk up and down the stairs and that I find really helpful and refreshing. These are just a few examples, but you can probably think of ways that you can design your environment to lead to more movement. And the final tip, and I really hate to say it, but nap if you can. And I always hesitate to suggest this one because for most of us who work in an office, it's just not possible. I totally get it. At an office, I used to work at, we theoretically had a nap room, but of course, no one ever used it. And so I used to self-identify as not a napper. I would always say, "Oh, I just can't nap," or, "If I do, I feel worse after." But a few years ago, I decided to give it a try. And I have to say, if you can find the sweet spot of a really short nap in early afternoon, for me that's about 2 p.m. It just gives me so much more energy and I'm able to go longer. I'm only groggy for like five minutes after. Again, that's me, and it may not be possible for many of you, but if it is possible, give it a try. Even if you are a nap skeptic like I used to be, just give it a try for a few days and see how it works out. All right, to get started, what I want you to do is think of one way that you can build renewal into your day. I would recommend trying micro breaks or a pomodoro to start, but whichever one of those tips resonates with you, give it a try. You can expand later. Thanks so much for listening to the productivity show, and I will see you next time.