The Secret to Getting More Done Each Day
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Are you curious to know the secret to getting more done each day? Before I tell you what it is, let me tell you what it’s not. It’s not some fancy planner or planning app (although there is nothing wrong with these), it’s not a slick idea relating to time management, and it’s not a new system of some kind.
It’s nothing you can buy, download, or even create that will give way to a magic recipe for somehow adding time to your day that is already maxed out.
It is only something that you can do.
Are you ready to hear what you need to do in order to get more done today and every day?
Here it is.
Do nothing
That’s right, do nothing.
Put “do nothing” right into your schedule for today and every day.
What in the world am I talking about?
I am talking about the importance of adding rest into your day. I am not talking about the lay down and close your eyes rest, the napping kind of rest, or the sit down and just “be” kind of rest – although all of these would qualify.
For this purpose, rest refers to doing something to pull away from the busyness of your day. Rest refers to doing something that causes you to step back, to pull away, and to remove all elements of anything that your day normally requires of you.
I am a wife, I am a homeschooling mom to 7, I am a working at home woman who also happens to be a writer. This means that my brain and my body are ALWAYS going at about 1,000 miles an hour.
If you could see inside my brain I am convinced that you would see something resembling a freeway with cars whizzing by and most days, my body is doing this, too.
I am constantly being pulled this way and that, driving here, driving there, making grocery lists, creating \
lists of things we need to take in the car the next day, and to-do lists for many of the people who live here while also planning and making meals, paying bills and fulfilling the role of “office manager” in our family, and let’s not forget laundry, cleaning, organizing, and a list of countless other things too lengthy to name.
The thing is, it’s not just me. This is you, too. Your life is filled with endless amounts of expectations, demands, and detours that come out of nowhere all day, every day.
This brings me back to the do nothing part. The rest part.
Do you see how you need it?
Does even thinking about scheduling little pockets of calm and rest into your day bring you a deep sigh as a sense of peace washes over you? I know it does for me.
Rest can come in a variety of forms
In my life, my first time of rest starts right after I get up in the morning. Sounds kind of crazy that I go from sleeping to resting, but the first 15 to 20 minutes of my day is spent in a time of quiet devotions.
This is my encouragement to you. Spend the first little bit of your day having some rest time doing something that feeds your soul. Do something that anchors your day in positive, nourishing, calming words whether something you read, something you listen to, or something that pours from your own heart as you journal your thoughts.
Starting your day in this way will transform your day, it really will.
Then, schedule more of these little pockets of calm throughout your day. Mine are scheduled late morning, at the start of afternoon naptime, at the end of the schoolday/late afternoon, and after at least some of the little kids get in bed at night.
Rest happens in my life when I throw in some earbuds and listen to music whether it’s from my running playlist or my Enya playlist.
Rest happens in my life when I read a chapter in a book.
Rest happens in my life when I sit outside and allow the warmth of the sun wash over my face.
Rest even happens in my life when my husband takes me up the street to the outdoor mall to walk around while talking and laughing.
If you do this as I have suggested…maybe five times a day for only 10-15 minutes or so, you will find that you get more done in your day. You WILL be more productive than if you assume that you don’t have time for rest.
How do I know this? I know this because I was my own guinea pig. I go through periods where I skip over this to give favor to the “more important things” on my to-do list.
Go ahead. Try it. Put this theory to the test, but you have to really force yourself to REST. And, you have to do it for a couple of weeks.
If you are looking to get more done each day, you must make rest the most important and regular part of your day.