Unconventional Schedules to Disrupt Toxic Productivity
Unconventional Schedules to Disrupt Toxic Productivity
I hope you’ll join me on this journey as we learn to care for ourselves better, to discover our inherent worth, and to live a life with more alignment and ease.
First of all, I want to thank all of you for subscribing to my notes on Substack - I have been blown away by your interest and I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you all about all things business and life (with a practical magick flair).
Today’s post is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. It stems from the overwhelming burnout that is happening in the helping fields (especially counseling & therapy). And it’s not only the helping fields that are suffering. We’ve all heard of The Great Resignation. People are just plain TIRED (and, tired in more ways than one) of what “work” has become.
We’re craving more meaning, more alignment, and more joy. We no longer want to go into a meaningless job everyday until we die. There’s more to life. And we’re beginning to realize that we can have joyful, meaningful careers that are not slowly sucking out our souls and killing us inside. There’s another way. And I believe that we’re in the midst of this shift.
Through this post, and future posts, I hope to inspire you to tune into what you want, what your soul is longing for. Create some quiet space so that you can listen to your soul’s stirrings, free from the influence of others, and free from societal conditioning.
As always, I encourage you to listen to your own intuition as to what is best for you. Take what resonates, and leave what doesn’t.
Now, without further ado… my post on Unconventional Schedules to Disrupt Toxic Productivity.
The 40-Hour Work Week Is Eww
The grind of the 40+ hour work week is going out of style… and I’m saying, “Good riddance.”
There are countless studies that support ending the 40-hour work week in favor of less. I’ll not cite them here, but you can do a quick internet search and find a plethora of them. Anyway, I just want to share a few of the statistics that I can recall off the top of my head…
we’re pretty good productivity-wise up until about 25 hours a week, then we start declining
a 6-hour work day is the optimum/upper-limit for good health
many people are the most productive when they have a 3-day work week
when you get into the 50+hour work week, there is a significantly higher risk of major health problems and death as a direct result of time worked
…and I could go on and on, but the gist is that working less is better for you all around.
In the book Do Less by Kate Northrup, there’s a great section (Chapter 1) that talks about the data supporting less work for increased health and productivity. I’ll link to the book below.
Let’s Normalize Sabbaticals
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but sabbaticals are all the rage now… and I’m thinking, “It’s about time.”
You’ve likely seen an increase in your colleagues taking time off more frequently and for longer periods of time. I’m hoping that this will become the norm.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but only taking a week or two off each year isn’t going to cut it - especially for those in the helping professions. Regular and frequent time off is what is needed for us to stave off burnout and get back into balance. I don’t want to sound dramatic, but having a balanced life is necessary for your health and survival.
Many people I know are taking a month off at a time to recharge, realign, and gain more clarity. Personally, I’ll be taking off two months this year. And I also have an unconventional schedule, which I’ll share more about below.
My clients and colleagues have raved about their sabbaticals once they have returned. No one has regretted their decision. They only regret that they didn’t do it sooner and with more regularity.
I’m Getting In Alignment
There are a lot of “good ideas” out there. You know… like the inspirational shit that you read on Instagram and think, “That’s a great idea… I’m going to start doing that.” And then you start doling out the advice and tell your friends and family about this great thing. And, if you’re being honest, you pass along the details about this life-changing thing to your therapy clients and your coaching clients - all the while, never actually doing the thing yourself that you’ve been raving about to everyone and advising them that they should do it.
You know what I’m talking about, right?
Anyway, if you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you know that I’m someone who is a huge proponent of rest, ease, simplicity, quiet time, and white space in my calendar - because it’s what I crave, and I believe it is good for us (at least for most of us introverts and highly sensitive persons, as well as those who are recovering from burnout).
I’m not one of these coaches who will talk about how great something is without practicing it and embodying it myself. But don’t get me wrong, I haven’t always been this way. As a therapist, I would preach self-care to my clients, yet neglect it for myself - and I know that many of you can relate.
I began to recognize that I was out of alignment, and that I was just sharing with others the things that I knew were really good for them (and me too) without practicing them and embodying them myself.
I was working really hard at getting the information and support out there for others about how beneficial rest and self-care was - while I was not doing it for myself. This didn’t feel good. It was really inauthentic and out of alignment.
And I have now vowed that I will not be sharing anything with my clients (or with you all) that I have not taken the time to experiment with and experience myself.
Slowing Down Isn’t Always Easy
If I’m being honest, slowing down did not come naturally. There was so much guilt and shame that came with the changes I was making regarding the amount of time that I worked. But I knew that a change was desperately needed.
You have likely experienced some of these feelings before as the relate to work and productivity:
feeling like you “should” be working (or at least look busy) at all times during the “work day”
feeling guilty for resting or taking a break
doing things that don’t really matter (or things that don’t really need to get done) just so you can appear busy and productive
making your work sound “more” than it actually is when you’re recounting to family or friends what you did for the day
I consider slowing down as a deconditioning process from the harmful societal expectations that have been placed on us regarding work and productivity. When we’ve been believing and acting in a certain way for decades, it can take some time to believe and act in a different way. So be gentle with yourself as you begin to unlearn the many aspects of toxic productivity.
How Am I Practicing What I Preach?
I want to hold myself accountable for actually practicing the slowing down that I’m preaching to you. So, how am I incorporating this into my life and business?
At Least Three Days Off Each Week
I ensure that I have at least three days off work each week. I think that I do this as a big FU to the arbitrary 5-day/40-hour work week. My weekends are protected - so much so that when I run my tiny retreats they are during the week days. I also ensure that I have at least one additional day (sometimes two days) each week that I have nothing work related scheduled. And, if I’m being honest, it took quite a while of this practice before I could fully enjoy a “day off” during the middle of the week. Don’t worry if it’s uncomfortable in the beginning - it’s a natural part of the deconditioning process - you’ll get there too.
Deep Work & Rest Week
I started out with, what was once a somewhat radical idea of, taking a week off each month, and that has evolved into my Deep Work & Rest Week. In Episode 54 of the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast I talk all about my Deep Work & Rest Week, so give it a listen - I’ve shared a link to the episode below. But in a nutshell, I designate a week around every New Moon to keep my calendar blank and follow my energy as to whether I do some deep work or some deep rest (and it’s usually a combination of both). This practice ensures that I have regular breaks and is the absolute best way that I prevent burnout.
Extended Time Off During the Solstices
This year I’m doing something new. I’ll be taking time off during the Summer and the Winter. If you’re someone who follows the Wheel of the Year, my time off coincides with the seasons of Midsummer and Yule - which is typically around 5 to 6 weeks.
I strongly believe that both REST and PLAY are sorely missing from our lives - and because of this, I want to lead by example and carve out the space for rest and play to return back into our lives. I’m not only going to tell you that you should incorporate more rest and play into your life - but I’m going to physically create the space for them by blocking time off in my calendar.
For those of you who may not know, I host a small-group mastermind for introverted and highly sensitive solopreneurs called Forestmind. The creation and design of this year-long mastermind was very intentional for me, and one part of it that was really important to me was the emphasis on rest and play. I am placing emphasis on rest and play by making them important in my own business and life. And I do this by ACTUALLY RESTING AND PLAYING, and encouraging my clients to do the same.
I’ll be playing during the Summer season and I’ll be resting during the Winter season.
It’s Not Always Easy, But It’s Worth It
It wasn’t an easy decision to take these three different types of time off.
Wait… let me take that back. It was an easy decision in my soul. It just felt right and aligned.
What was difficult was going against the societal expectations of how much we “should” be working. It was the internalized capitalism that is so ingrained in us that makes it difficult to care for ourselves. Internalized capitalism is the notion that our worth is measured by our productivity. Gross, right?
Incorporating these three different types of time off into my calendar took some trial and error, and fits and starts, before I got into the rhythm and stopped feeling guilty.
Like I said earlier, it will take some time to decondition ourselves from these unhealthy notions - but I can feel that we are beginning to head down that path.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey as we learn to care for ourselves better, to discover our inherent worth, and to live a life with more alignment and ease.
I Want To Hear From You…
I’d love to know, how are you practicing some radical self-care in the form of time off or unconventional schedules?
Have you ever taken a sabbatical? If so, what was it like?
If you’d like to have more time for yourself but haven’t yet made it happen, what are some of the things that are getting in your way?
Happy Summer Solstice - Go Play!
Have an amazing Summer, and I hope you uncover more Joy, Fun, and Play than you’ve ever known.
I’ll be back here soon.
May The Forest Be With You,
Cindy
Acorns…
Mountain Practice Journeys Podcast - Episode 54: What Is A Deep Work & Rest Week?
Mountain Practice Journeys Podcast - Moon Phase Series (#1 New Moon)
Book - Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women by Kate Northrup
Great post! Let’s hear more about why we burn out ! Thanks !