The Necessity of Breaks
The Necessity of Breaks
When I sat down over the weekend to write my newsletter I couldn’t think of anything to write. I found this odd and frustrating especially since I just finished a semester of creative writing and was loving every single bit of it. And yet, when I sat down on Sunday morning with my tablet on my lap I couldn’t think of anything of value to write. The thing about writing on a schedule is that sometimes we just have to accept the fact that there are days when our creative side just isn’t working and that’s fine. And this applies to all areas of focus in our lives.
I am a strong believer in discipline over inspiration, but I’m also a believer in giving yourself time off from time to time. Every morning I set a timer for five minutes to write whatever comes to mind, some days it’s inspiration for a short story, other days it’s complete nonsense, but the point is to work out those muscles every day even if they aren’t firing at full capacity. It’s the same with exercise. Every day I have to do some sort of work out, whether it be lifting at the gym or going on a thirty minute walk. Exercise, just like writing and engineering, is tied to my identity. But, with all that being said, rest is just as important as daily practice.
In terms of exercise rest allows our muscles to heal, it allows the subconscious parts of our body that we can’t directly control to step in and do their work. Same with our brains. I think after that creative writing class ended my brain began protesting and chanting “I need a break” silently in the back of my mind and I in turn protested and thought that I just wasn’t doing enough. After mulling on it for a few days I’ve decided to embrace the desire of a break and give my writing side of my brain some time off. I have a lot of goals for 2022 that will involve utilizing the tools and techniques I learned through that class, that I think my mind is deserving of a break before we get down to business.
If you’re interested in more things about discipline vs rest I highly recommend the book Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey. (We also reviewed it on The Productivity Lab if you’re interested).
Project Updates
From the Quadrant
From the Webb
Cassettes - There’s a mysterious box of cassettes in the attack, when you listen to them you’ll be taken to other worlds. [Flash Fiction]
From the Lab
How We Plan - This episode Mark and I finally go in depth with how we plan. From yearly focuses to daily tasks, we break down our planning systems and discuss how they help us get stuff done.
Recommendations
YouTube
G4 is Back! - By now this is old news, but I’m still riding that hype of the return of G4. G4, for those not in the known, was a premium cable channel dedicated to covering all things gaming and nerd culture but was eventually axed due to an overdose of COPS reruns. After nearly a decade of being off the air G4 has returned on YouTube and Twitch with old hosts and new talent.
Books
The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time Book 1) by Robert Jordan - Despite my nerdiness I’ve never been one for fantasy books, that is until I checked out The Wheel of Time. With the premier of the Amazon Prime series I was encourage to check out the book series and it has not disappointed. The Wheel of Time is a character driven fantasy series with some of the most impressive world building I’ve read in a book.