Mom’s Write: Rest

I find it kind of ironic that I’m writing about rest after reeling from a insanely busy weekend. Our weekends aren’t normally so jam-packed, but this one sure was. And I’m headed into a very busy week at work too.

Last week I wrote about priorities and what things you could give up to make more time to write. I think it’s important to pursue your passion as much as possible. Sometimes that means my days are packed.

But I also have found value in rest.

Forcing Myself to Rest

Since I normally have a very hectic schedule, purposefully resting can be really hard for me. I often feel like I need to be doing something since there’s always something to catch up on. Right now I could list 20 things that I need to do this week. I’m looking forward to getting some of those things done, but I’m also looking forward to some much needed rest.

A few months ago, I took a whole day and I did almost nothing. I spent the afternoon and evening curled up in bed watching Army Wives episodes on Netflix and I didn’t feel one bit guilty about it (well, maybe just a little). I learned that my body needed it though. My brain needed a rest. I didn’t have the energy to read, and I definitely didn’t have the energy to write.

I just needed to stop and chill out.

But I Don’t Have Time to Rest

Accomplishing important tasks all have one thing in common: If we don’t make time for them, we’ll never FIND the time for them. If I waited until I had a free few minutes to write, I would never do it. So I have decided I need to plan my rest like I plan my writing time. Michael Hyatt talks a lot about being intentional. If you are intentional about something, then you are more likely to actually do it or at least make progress. I’m trying to be intentional in other areas of my life, so why not rest?

Ideally, I would rest every week, preferably on Sunday. But Sunday afternoons are prime writing time for me. So, I have decided to pick a day a month to block off. I will not do any writing or work of any kind. I won’t ban cooking because sometimes that’s relaxing for me.

Sometimes we get sick and our body forces us to rest, but I’m hoping that I can plan to rest then give my body the break it needs ahead of time.

I’m putting rest on my calendar just like I put an appointment or a task to be accomplished. I hope that will help me know not to schedule anything else during that time.

I’m I the only one who has trouble resting? How do you make it a priority?