Today we ask you to understand the concept of rest.
The concept of the rest day, or sabbath, has largely been lost in the modern world. Modern people are always at work — always receiving emails and texts, always taking their work home with them. Workaholism is celebrated as a virtue in your society. That in of itself is nothing new — workaholism has been celebrated in your society for a very long time. But it used to be that even the most die-hard workaholics were obligated to wind down a bit on the Sabbath. That is no longer the case.
A whole host of problems arise when people forget how to rest. One of the biggest issues is insomnia. People’s nervous systems are so overstimulated that they cannot shut down. It is a very destructive illness, insomnia, one that breeds a variety of even worse physical issues — for the body that cannot sleep will inevitably experience other forms of illness.
Of course, there is no insomniac in the world who couldn’t be cured by a week spent in a remote location with no access to phones, the internet, email or television. Even the worst insomniac would quickly find himself sleeping soundly, for ten hour stretches — and such an experience would do him and his body a world of good.
Rest is essential. It is absolutely essential. Whatever your workaholism gains you will be lost tenfold by all the physically and mentally debilitating symptoms it creates. A brain that cannot rest at night cannot sustain productivity in the long term. In truth, you will have to work more because it takes twice as long, three or four times as long, for a tired brain to accomplish what a well-rested brain can accomplish. It is even worse than that. It can take ten or more hours for a tired brain to accomplish what a well-rested brain can do in one.
We would recommend that everyone who suffers from insomnia or fatigue to spend a week in the country without phones, email, internet, or television. But we know most of you will not do this.
Still, there are things you can do. You can take a daylong sabbath away from email, Facebook, and the internet at home. It requires willpower, but such a fast is even more healthy than any kind of dietary fast or cleanse.
Rest, people. Please let yourselves rest. The value of rest cannot be overstated. And if you really are interested in “increasing your productivity” — rest!
Rest. Rest. Rest.
wordfromthewell 
I definitely see the need for rest – but being an entrepreneur means you are rewarded proportional to your efforts. I have seen, personally, that when I take the time for self-care, my productivity increases.
But, when I’m in the grind, I find it SO HARD to step out of work mode and get into rest.
The only solution I’ve found is to schedule in the rest time, and keep it like an appointment. Oddly, if I schedule my rest/exercise times for longer than 15 minutes, I tend to ditch the appointment.
So my solution (so far) has been 10 minute meditations on my mp3 player. Thats the most rest I can get as an entrepreneur!
Thanks so much for sharing this, Caelan. I’ve also found that it’s a good idea to formally schedule R&R time. I think that’s the general concept behind the old-fashioned “sabbath” — that it’s a dedicated, scheduled, once-a-week no matter what day of rest.
But even ten minutes can make a huge difference when you’re in the grind! That’s a really great practice.