Can Healthy Leisure Grow Your Business?
“And on the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:2-3).
Made to Work
God works. We are created in His image, and so we work. A common misconception, however, is that work is a result of our fall in the Garden of Eden. As it states in our creation story, “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Genesis 2:15). Man was to cultivate and care for his world before the creation of Eve (Genesis 2:19). After the Fall, there was a consequence of sin that made work toil: “Cursed is the ground because of you! In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, from which you were taken” (Genesis 3:17-19).
This consequence of sin does not negate the intrinsic holiness of work, but because of this effect, our perspective and experience of work, value, productivity, and purpose have become muddied.
We are made to work and even to find joy and fulfillment in our work. This is an integral part of being human, but it also requires taking time to rest and refuel.
Made to Rest
Once again, as we look at God, He also rested, and so we too are made for rest. The people of the United States are among the worst globally when it comes to resting. While the U.S. falls at 19 in a list of 28 for countries who take the most leisure time, it is more about the attitude of Americans when it comes to “taking time off.”
The United States has one of the lowest required vacation days by country because there is no minimum requirement for what employers must offer for PTO. Our business owners are not required to mandate leisure, so the unsaid message is that employees should not desire time for leisure. We pride ourselves on the great American work ethic, but employees in the U.S. work an average of 30-90 minutes longer each day than Europeans and 400 more annual hours than the Germans. Why are we so consumed with work?
As I wrote in my book Living Intentionally, we in America wear our busyness as a badge of honor. We associate busyness with productivity and those who are not busy are seen as less productive and therefore less valuable.
We have become so accustomed to being in a constant state of productivity that when it comes time to relax, many people don’t know how or struggle with a feeling of guilt for not making better use of their time. So how do we reconcile these two truths? One, we are created for work, but that work has been tainted by sin and thereby causes stress and anxieties, and two, we are created for rest but can feel guilty or restless when we attempt to unplug.
Leisure vs. Laziness
When we are burned out from working too much or from too much stress, a tendency is for leisure to be more like sloth which can be defined as reluctance to make an effort. Laying around on the couch all day may sound like a great option for leisure, but too often it ends up making us feel even more tired, not to mention guilty.
Leisure activities a few hundred years ago often involved things that today may seem like work. Attending lectures, learning new skills, participating in community activities occupied the leisure of the 1880s. These activities still engaged the minds and bodies, but compared to the often difficult manual labor, were a respite for workers. We must find a respite for our work, which is oftentimes mostly mental work.
Leisure is not laziness when done well; it is actually necessary for our well-being. How can we find the rest we need, the fulfillment we crave, and the healthy pleasure we seek all the while continuing to build our businesses?
Putting It Into Practice
If most of our work in today’s business culture is mental work, we must create opportunities to step away from our thoughts which can be more challenging than it sounds. Stepping away doesn’t need to be extreme to enjoy the benefits of rest. We can use our minds to help us create an environment for leisure because when we are rested, we are more creative. Creating that environment begins with a routine. Getting good rest, which could be the topic of another article, begins and ends our routine and is the building block for a healthy and productive day. Wake up at the same time, maintain the same routine throughout the day, including a walk, perhaps even a nap, and then go to bed at the same time. This routine will improve both creativity and productivity.
We mistakenly believe that “all-nighters” and the modern-day executive equivalent of working 80+ hours a week will help us get more done. There is a great deal of research that proves the point of no return on investment does exist when it comes to our physical, emotional, and professional capabilities.
Some people work better in the morning, some in the evening. That is a personal preference, but determine your preference and create a routine around that. As a morning person, I know that I do my best work between 9am and noon. If I want to be focused, creative, productive, and make the most of my time spent, I will work those hours without interruption. This is not time for phone calls or administrative tasks that can be done mindlessly. This is project building, goal setting, problem solving time. I get up early, go for a walk, and enjoy my tea slowly before beginning work. At noon, I attend mass, have lunch and spend my afternoons doing other tasks, knowing that what I started in the morning will keep until tomorrow when I can be focused again.
The most important thing for us to remember is that we are created in the image of God, and God works and rests. Taking time to leisurely enjoy a walk, a cup of tea, or yes, even a nap, can boost our brains and make the time we spend working more fruitful, without the burnout so common among our colleagues.
Laryn Weaver is a Catholic writer and speaker whose current focus is a ministry of availability and prayer. Her greatest joys are her marriage, her adult children, and her four grandbabies! Find out more about Laryn at larynweaver.com.