WEEKLY WISDOM - REST

Rest: cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength

What comes to mind when you think of rest? Peace, tranquility, slow pace, refreshment, a long exhale, relaxation, comfort. Matthew 11:28-29 provides such comforting solace for leaders. The English Standard Version reads “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”. I can assuredly attest that as leaders, we probably are not as intentional about this very important aspect of our leadership.

For the most part, our secular culture promotes the exact opposite; excessive work hours, weekend expectations of work, making allowances for what others consider urgent, immediate responses to emails, texts, or other communication mediums. With this kind of pressure, no wonder leaders are under such stress and anxiety. Many leaders are certainly not getting enough rest or being deliberate about exercising this aspect of leadership. They believe that they can operate effectively from five to six hours of sleep each night and perform at their best during the day. Unbeknownst to them, their quality of work has diminished much lower than they realize, and they are minimizing their potential.

Rest comes in all kinds of forms. It includes getting enough sleep, relaxing from work, enjoying your favorite pastime, engaging in your hobby. All of these contribute to your effectiveness and creativity at work. Think about God! He created the earth and all its inhabitants in six days and then rested on the seventh. This was the model designed for us. There are many studies that support the benefits of sleep and rest which allows us to maximize our role. Here are a few to embrace; it heals the body, reduces stress, boosts creativity, improves productivity, and enhances decision making. All these benefits work for your good as a leader.

This was a hard quality for me to be disciplined in because I was thinking that I would be judged more favorably the longer hours I worked. I also felt I needed to prove myself to others. I was looking for that next promotion or major salary increase and the only way to achieve those goals were to work as many hours and take on as any projects as I possibly could. All the while, I was burning myself out and not allowing room for any rest or recovery.

I finally put some techniques in place that has helped me better steward my time, health, mind, and career. I hope this helps you as a leader.

1. I take all my vacation that is given to me.

2. I turn off all my internal notifications on the weekends so that I can be present with my family and fully engage in those things that I enjoy.

3. I intentionally participate in some level of exercise three to four days a week.

4. I spend time with my family and create special experiences with them so that my focus stays with the most important priority in my life.

5. I respect other leaders and employees time by not sending communications to them in the evenings or on weekends or holidays.

6. Most of all I spend a lot of time in prayer and meditation every day to set the tone for my life!

I hope this has inspired you as a leader to take your rest seriously. I promise it will yield the results desired in other aspects of your life. All that is required is to be consistent and disciplined.

(EQUIPPING)

Exercise Your Power this week

1. Examine what your rest and sleep times look like over the coming week and make the necessary adjustments to improve your own life and productivity.
   

2. Make the necessary adjustments to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night to maximize your effectiveness.   

3. Implement rhythms in your life so that you get REST!