In today’s busy world, rest is highly neglected. For many people, it has come to a point where if they are not doing any work or are not being productive, they feel like they are being a disappointment.
Always remember: If you are not taken care of, you cannot take care of others.
Rest is not merely sleeping or lying on a sofa or bed with your eyes closed, though these are essential to your well-being. Rest is taken when you are away from interruptions and distractions. It is taken when you are in a place of peace and, often, quiet.
As an introvert, it is deeply important to be rested as this is where your energy comes from. You cannot hope to last very long if you are on your feet, around people for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week.
Learning to cope with busy times will help you to get more out of yourself without breaking yourself down.
1) Wherever you work, find a place where you can be on your own
This could be an empty storeroom, your own private office – lucky you, a nearby park or even a bathroom cubicle.
2) Go to your quiet place when you start to feel frazzled
Take time out whenever you need to. There is no need to apologise for this.
3) Get enough sleep
Sleep is absolutely necessary for your body to rest and recover from the wear and tear it experiences on a day-to-day basis.
We have all read the articles of how much sleep the average person needs. Remember, though, that some of us need more and some of us need less. Figure out your number and get that amount.
As always advised, use the bed for its primary purpose: sleep. Do your work at a study table and keep your smart devices away from you when you are in bed.
4) Tune-out, Self-encourage, Tune back in
This is one of my most valued techniques. There will be times when you have an unavoidably busy schedule. Perhaps you have 4 hours of back-to-back sessions and each session requires you to explain a lot of information.
Work a lull into your session. Perhaps you can get everyone to write something down, read a couple of paragraphs of their notes or books on their own, play a quick video or engage in a short few-minute-long discussion – though this produces a fair bit of noise and I do not recommend it for this purpose.
In the most desperate of scenarios, I have created a lull simply by walking silently towards the board from where I was in the middle of the room.
During this lull, tune-out for as long as you are able to and say something encouraging to yourself along the lines of, “you can do this!”, “they are engaged so well done you!”, “halfway through!” or even “only a while more and you can have a break”.
Repeat the self-encouragement a few times – silently or your learners will think you are crazy – then keep silent for a second or two longer.
Finally, tune back in and continue the session.
This has helped me tremendously many times and I highly recommend it. In fact, some of you may already be doing this.