It's that time of year when the hustle and bustle of the holidays takes center stage. You may be buying gifts, decorating your home, finishing up projects, or launching something new in your business. You are also attending holiday gatherings with friends and coworkers. It is a lot, and it can be extremely exhausting.
I know this firsthand.
Years ago, I made a conscious effort to recalibrate my life. Part of that involved building intentional relaxation, restoration, and reflection into my schedule. I treated these things the same way I treat meetings, work, and family activities. Over time, I learned that rest is just as important as everything else I do and sometimes it is even more important.
Think about the instruction flight attendants give about oxygen masks. You are told to put your own mask on first before helping anyone else. That is also true in life. You cannot function at your best if your energy is depleted.
So I want to shift the way you think about rest. Do not view it as something you can do if there is extra time. See it as a strategic productivity tool that helps you sustain peak performance.
Rest is high octane fuel for your mind and your body.
Let’s be honest. Some people use rest as a get out of jail free card. Instead of tackling tasks that matter, they say they are tired and convince themselves that rest is the solution. In reality, they are avoiding something they do not want to deal with.
I have been guilty of this too. Recently, I had a trip coming up. I knew I needed to pack but instead I told myself that I deserved to relax because I had just hosted Thanksgiving and decorated for Christmas. So I sat on the sofa and binge watched television and scrolled Instagram. The truth is that I was avoiding the frustration of choosing outfits for two different climates. It was avoidance, not rest.
Of course, that is very different from times when you are genuinely exhausted and cannot think straight. In those moments, true rest is absolutely necessary and well overdue.
Most of us know that rest matters on a general level, but we underestimate just how deeply it affects our productivity and performance.
When I watch interviews with successful leaders, business owners, and high achievers, I hear a common theme. They do not treat rest as an afterthought. They prioritize it. They build it into their routines. They respect it because they know they cannot sustain excellence without it.
They aim for eight hours of sleep because they want to enter the day with a clear and sharp mind. They want their energy to carry them through a demanding schedule.
I experience the difference in my own life. When I get six to eight hours of sleep, I wake up energized, clear headed, and ready to start the day. When I get less than six hours or my sleep is not restful, everything slows down. My focus is weaker. My decision making feels heavier. I am more forgetful. Around four or five in the afternoon, I completely fade.
You can imagine what happens when that becomes a pattern. Productivity drops. Your brain is fighting to function. Your body is struggling to keep up. You are working twice as hard for half the output. Not to mention the stress that puts on your entire physical ecosystem.
Once you understand the impact, the next step is to build rest into your schedule on purpose.
At work, I encourage my team to take their lunch. It sounds simple, but many of us skip lunch without thinking. People see an open slot on your calendar and schedule it with no thought of the fact that it is lunch time for you. If you are not careful, the entire day will get away from you without you taking a break.
So I book my lunch on my calendar. I treat it like a real meeting. If something urgent comes up, I adjust it, but the time stays reserved. That window allows me to breathe, reset, and think clearly. Sometimes I brainstorm. Sometimes I troubleshoot. Sometimes I tackle filler tasks to give my brain a break from what it's been doing. And sometimes I just eat in peace or listen to something relaxing.
The goal is to create a rhythm of recovery that fits your work style and your personal life.
This is the question I hear the most. If you spend your lunch doing something on your to do list, is that still rest?
Here is how I view it. If the task helps free up time later and reduces your stress in the evening, then yes, it can still support your overall rest. As a side hustler, if I do not handle some filler tasks during lunch, I will have to do them at night. That takes away from family time or true downtime.
You get to decide what counts as rest in your world. Test different approaches and see what works.
There is more than one way to reach the same goal. You simply need to understand how you operate and lean into what supports your energy instead of draining it.
Rest does not have to look the same every day. It could be:
• Taking your lunch break without multitasking
• Enjoying a short nap
• Adding a 15 minute buffer to the end of every meeting
• Scheduling small breaks using the Pomodoro method
• Watching a lighthearted show
• Listening to music or a podcast
• Sitting in silence and resetting your mind
Rest is anything that allows your brain to release tension and shift gears.
There is no rigid formula. Look for patterns in your life that create stress and build rest into those pockets.
I will leave you with one final step. Evaluate your starting point. Think honestly about how exhaustion is showing up in your world.
Are you too drained after work to enjoy your family or work on your side hustle?
Do you feel foggy or scattered when opportunities come your way?
Do you want to be more present and alert during the day?
Track what you experience over the next few weeks as you prioritize rest. You will begin to see what works and where you need to adjust.
As for me, I have completed what I set out to do today. And now I am going to rest.
The content shared on DLMorales.com strives to teach side-hustling and full-time solopreneurs how to manage a successful business and life using holistic systems. The text in this post is provided by DLMorales and edited by ChatGPT. The goal is to help you identify the right systems and processes so you aren't spending money or time on unnecessary things and instead can spend that time and money focusing on the things that are most important to you, your family.
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