This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Working Hard, Hardly Working" by Grace Beverley. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Do you neglect self-care because you don’t have time? What price do you pay for that?
In Working Hard, Hardly Working, Grace Beverley explores how to integrate self-care and productivity by bringing self-care time into your work time. But, she also says it’s important to engage in pure self-care outside of productivity time so you can regularly experience the benefits of work-free leisure.
Continue reading for Beverley’s practical tips for making time for self-care.
Making Time for Self-Care
Beverley says you should remind yourself that self-care-only time still supports your productivity by leaving you feeling rejuvenated and ready to be productive. Let’s explore two of Beverley’s recommendations for making time for self-care outside of work.
(Shortform note: Self-care-only time that’s specifically restful may prepare you for productivity beyond just helping you feel rejuvenated. In Do Nothing, Celeste Headlee explains that restful time when you’re not working on a task (such as when you’re taking a bath) activates a system of structures in your brain called the default mode network (DMN). When this system is activated, you naturally process emotions and decisions, reflect on memories, consider others’ feelings, and daydream about the future. Headlee says that the DMN sparks creativity and growth since your brain is free to consider things from new angles. Therefore, you may find it motivating to remind yourself during restful self-care-only time that the creative ideas you generate may support your productivity later.)
Tip 1: Discover What Self-Care Means to You
Beverley argues that there isn’t a single set of self-care activities that work for everyone, since we all have different needs and interests. Therefore, take time to experiment with various self-care activities. First, try out any activities that could be considered self-care—anything that feels good and could therefore leave you rejuvenated, such as playing a board game or photographing your pet. Keep a record of which activities have the most positive impact on your mental health and productivity. Then, make those your go-to self-care activities.
(Shortform note: As you experiment with various self-care activities, consider documenting your experience so you can easily reflect on which activities you’ve tried, which work for you, which don’t, and which you’ve modified to suit your needs. For instance, try a documentation method that Ryder Carroll describes in The Bullet Journal Method: Mix different styles of bullet points within a single list (for instance, a list of self-care activities). This method allows you to organize information in a way that you can easily understand at a glance. For example, you could use a star-shaped bullet point to mark self-care activities that helped you, an X-shaped bullet point to indicate activities that didn’t, and an asterisk to denote tasks you modified.)
Tip 2: Make Time for Self-Care Before You Burn Out
Beverley says we typically only engage in self-care-only activities in reaction to symptoms of burnout (such as exhaustion). This self-care doesn’t prevent burnout, however—it just manages its symptoms. Fortunately, Beverley says you can prevent burnout and its symptoms by making time for self-care—proactively scheduling self-care-only time and protecting that time.
For example, say you find reading romance novels rejuvenating. Commit to spending every Saturday morning reading romance novels for two hours, and protect this self-care time by doing your chores beforehand and turning down any social invitations that conflict with this time.
(Shortform note: In Radical Candor, Kim Scott explains why we may tend to deprioritize scheduling self-care. She explains that self-care typically doesn’t feel as urgent or important as larger work tasks, so we put it at the bottom of our to-do lists. She shares a tip for scheduling and protecting your self-care time so you’re more likely to prioritize it: Put it on your calendar and commit to it as you would with any other scheduled meeting.)
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Here's what you'll find in our full Working Hard, Hardly Working summary:
- Why self-care and productivity require one another
- How to use your work time wisely and make work tasks more enjoyable
- How regular self-care can help you prevent burnout
