The Art of Deliberate Rest — Navigating the Hustle Lifestyle

This has been something that been lingering on my mind for quite a while as I often see people around me feeling the stress and burnout due to overwork or handling too many assignments. Despite my busy schedule and commitment towards self-development, work and contributing to the community, somehow I still feel pretty energized and able to continue to pursue my plethora of activities.

Compartmentalizing the thoughts

I was able to compartmentalize the different aspects of life and this has greatly helped to protect my mental health. By putting these thoughts into different boxes allowed me to focus one thing at a time so that I will not feel a sense of overwhelmed upon me.

I feel that sometimes we felt stressed because of these reasons:

• The need to ensure everything is under control
• The need to get everything done as quickly as possible.
• Worried about what others may perceived of oneself
• Afraid of disappointment and failures

I had these feelings before and it definitely contributes to my stress level. What helped me to cope with this is to relinquish the sense of control and think about what ultimately matters to you in life. For example, it gives me purpose to work hard in my job so that I can ultimately I am able to live comfortably for myself and my family. When I am able not to fulfil the expectations, I will not give myself more stress because I know the end goal was to provide well for the family, not to exceed work expectations every time. This way, it helps to lower expectations and prevent self-inflicted stress onto oneself.

When I compartmentalized my thoughts, it allows me to do one thing at a time, get it right and focus on the next. It will be better if you can forget what’s been done so that you will have a better headspace to focus on the next. Eventually, you might realized that you became more productive because you are always performing at your best for every assignment you received.

Setting aside for deliberate rest

This may come across interesting to some folks but I do deliberately set aside time for rest. Your body needs to recharge and get well. I will not force myself to stay awake and listen to my body more often. It is better not to neglect your health because it will have bad effects in the long term. Sometimes, I would look at “opportunities” in my calendar to find time to have a break. This includes booking myself a massage session, watch a movie or playing games. This way, it becomes a commitment to ensure your body gets enough rest.

Learning To be Detached

I would recommend that you give this book a read as it revealed a perspective that helps you to be less detached to the things happening around you. Stress sometimes can be self-induced especially if you are emotionally attached to a vision and it is not turning out the way you expect.

By caring less on others’ opinions, expectations and just focusing on your own self, it will create a small bubble that will protect your mental health. As such, you will be able to sustain your activities in the long run. I have applied some of these perspectives, and I would say it does help to maintain your mental strength. Just remember to still act and perform professionally in your work. Detachment and minding one’s own business is not the same as behaving or performing irresponsibly towards others.

Continuously Energized

I got to be honest. Even if you have a hobby that you love, if you are under the pressure of having to meet performance metrics or money stress, it will start to suck eventually. So one of the key ingredients that helped me sustain my hustle lifestyle is to be energized by both forms of work. That means you have to find activities that you enjoyed both in the working hours and also the after hours. It may not be easy to find, but if you do, you will see that you are always looking forward to the next activity as it continues to energize you.

It will be better if both activities are different in nature so that you can feel the contrast in environment. A good example would be giving a spinning class after work while your day job is an analytical job. Though your body is still moving, you are giving your mind a good break because you are enjoying what you do. Likewise, when you flip it around during the working hours when you are working your mind and giving your body a break.

Regardless of what style you may choose, always remember to give yourself a good break!

Thank you for reading!

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MasteryMovementOfficial

Instagram Handle: thetechstoryteller