Our Time, Energy, and Attention Are Natural Resources (Productive Flourishing Pulse #470)
Let’s treat them as such
Are you playing the long game when it comes to doing your great work? Do your actions today reflect that? –
In the modern world of work, there’s a tendency to treat our bodies and minds like resources to be exploited in pursuit of accomplishment.
We talk a lot about sustainability for the natural world, and how to be better stewards.
But as humans we are part of nature, too. We need cultivation and nourishment, and sometimes, recovery.
What if we use our time, energy, and attention sustainably?
Here’s a basic sketch of how we might adopt sustainability principles in our professional and personal lives:
Learning to turn down the dial on our work intensity
Living more in harmony with nature
Focusing on the parts of your work that move the needle and setting aside some of the other stuff
Working smarter not harder, or dare I say… even working less (!!!) — do you really believe it would lead to a catastrophe?
Our world is abundant, not scarce.
wrote a great post on how nature shows us “good things don’t have to be hard to come by.”
We can balance our work with our other needs for rest, replenishment, and joy.
All it takes is unlearning that old, ugly scarcity mentality.
(Easier said than done, we get it.)
Balancing work, play, and rest
It’s an odd paradox that the person we spend the most time with (our self) is the one who often gets the least of our quality time and focus. –
The first step to centering your body and its needs may look like a much overdue rest — whether or not you think it’s “deserved”. Proper rest — like play — facilitates flow state when you do dive back in.
With the weekend upon us, it's a good time to prioritize that proper rest.
You also might consider whether a longer pause is needed, and how to find (or make) space for a slowbatical or sabbatical.
Some last thoughts on sustainable shifts to our mindset, moving into spring:
There is space in our lives for rest.
Treating ourselves well means investing in everything connected to us: relationships, home/family, and our best work.
Your value is intrinsic: working, resting, or playing.
Other News and Features
The team behind EverythingConference.com (including PF alum
) is doing an EverythingLive meet and greet with some of the conference’s Special Contributors, including , Justin Baker, and Rachel Alexandria. Register for the February 28 session here.Charlie’s latest Sparked episode with
is live today: “When Vision Meets Reality: Adjusting Your Plans to What Matters Now.”Team Habits has been officially adopted into the curriculum for the Leading Teams course at Cincinnati State (part of their Leadership Certificate). We’re super excited about this collaboration!
Reads and Seeds
If you believe the goal of productivity is only to write or produce more, recent pieces from
and offer a much-needed wake-up call: “... nearly all subscribers feel [overwhelmed by] the number of emails [they] receive. [... It’s a] constant competition for attention.” Good reason to consider what (and how much) we create, and where we expend our energy — rather than continually grinding to push out ever more content/products.“We’re still being told to think as individuals [and] to pretend that our economic futures are entirely in our hands, we’re still being told that our decisions alone make us rich or poor. But when groceries cost too much, when the rent is too high, when corporations are raking in record profits, it becomes hard for anyone to continue believing this.” –You Are Not the Problem by
on“Keeping each other in the dark about our failures and missteps only perpetuates the misbelief that success just happens” –Let It All Hang Out: On Rejection, Stats, and What Really Matters on
’sHave the Dutch found the answer to burnout culture? “Niksen” (the art of doing nothing) is not Dutch but “a reaction to modern living”. In a study of the U.S., Kenya, China, and five European countries, the Netherlands came out top in well-being, yet 90% of Dutch employees say they’re burnt out — still the least stressed of all nationalities. 😱 Something to consider when we feel the need to push harder.