Taking Care of Yourself IS Productive

“How can you think of yourself as a caring person if you don’t take care of yourself? If you don’t take care of yourself, you’ll stop thinking of yourself as someone who has a lot to give. Instead you’ll feel deprived. And you’ll hate your life. How can you give others joy if you can’t give yourself joy?”

Mira Kirshenbaum, The Gift of a Year (Page 9)

Beyond the Quote (Day 392)

Isn’t it strange to think how so many of us act like self-care isn’t a productive use of time? Like sleeping for 8 hours in a night is somehow costly? Or skipping a workout to do more office work is somehow admirable? Or spending time to take a break and recover is somehow wasteful? When in reality, it’s often the opposite that is the case.

People without self-care are like devices without batteries. Or cars without gas. Or solar powered lights without sun. Self-care is the very source of our productivity. Without it, we feel deprived, drained, weak, exhausted, or burned out—and our ability to produce can only ever be equal to how we feel. The worse we feel, the worse we perform. And the better we feel, the better we perform.

This is as true for business people as it is for athletes, parents, teachers, students, and professionals of any field. So, why do we so poorly prioritize our feelings? Because we’re busy? Because we’re pressured? Because we’re too focused on others? Sounds like we’d really love to have a car that never needed gas. Or a phone that never ran out of battery. Or a life that never needed self-care. Well, here’s the thing: we don’t. So, here’s the suggestion: we should stop acting like we do.

The harsh reality is this: either make time for self-care now, or you’ll be forced to make time for sickness later. You don’t get to treat yourself like crap now and get good health later. Just like you don’t get to skip oil changes and get a healthy car later. You might be able to make it work for a little while, but eventually, reality will hit. And when it does, you’ll have to pay for the accumulated debt in full—plus some. And that will leave you about as productive as a car with a blown out engine.

So, before you skip out on sleep, or I.O.U. your workout, or frown upon an invitation to take a break—look at these opportunities for what they are: investment opportunities for your engine. They give you a chance to attend to the needs of one of your engine’s warning lights. Feeling exhausted? Figure out a way to increase the priority of sleep and breaks. Feel like crap physically? Increase the priority of healthy eating and exercise. Feel like crap mentally? Increase the priority of reading, writing, and meditation. Or, just ignore those warning signs and keep doing what you’re doing. Or, better yet, just take on more work at the office. Because that will fix the problem, right?

In a Tweet:

Taking care of yourself IS productive.

Isn't it strange how so many act like it's not?

Like sleeping for 8hrs is costly? Or taking breaks is wasteful? Or skipping workouts to work is justifiable?

You can only ever perform as good as you feel.

So… Stop ignoring how you feel.

— Matthew Hogan (@MattHogan123) January 27, 2021

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Bonus: 10 Ways To Show Up For Yourself:

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Read Next: 25 Replenishing Quotes from The Gift Of A Year on Rest, Recovery, and Self Care

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