P2P No. 36 — It's hard to take it easy
It's hard to take it easy, it's easy to be hard; here I am again stuck in the middle—Mike Posner
We think we can always push harder, but sometimes we only want to sleep in. Well, if that would be that easy. If we have momentum and are absorbed into a project, our mind does not want to shut off. Have you been in the place when you promised yourself you would leave work earlier, but you simply could not?
There is a nice analogy from sports: some of the world's best athletes spend around 80% of their training time doing easy workouts. It's not that they could not go harder on the easy days. By going too hard, you risk passing muster on the hard days and getting the benefits only hard training can bring.
To translate this to knowledge work: it might be tempting to respond to that email at night/on the weekend or do a bit of work here or there. But then, will you be able to perform well when you need to?
Reflect
Remind yourself that even if you love doing what you do, rest has its place. World-class athletes would often suggest to their younger selves to rest more.
The idea came from The Growth Equation podcast—180 Taking it easy, where Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness discuss the downsides of when rest becomes performative. I encourage you to check it out.