⏸️ Boost Productivity by Working Less: Lessons from "Rest"

👋 Hello Friend

If you want to get more done while working less, you should check out the book Rest by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang.

📕 I (try to) not just read books; I take action on the information I consume.

Rest taught me that rest is something active and deliberate.

"Deliberate rest is not a negative space defined by the absence of work or something that we hope to get sometime." –Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

⏰ My day now starts with early deep work (6am). In the afternoon I do activities like walking and napping.

Last week I had the following routine:

• wake up at 6 a.m.
• eat a protein bar & drink a coffee
• deep work for 3-5 hours

—like Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert.

⏲️ Rest covers a whole chapter why 4h focused work / day is ideal to maximize productivity.

Poincaré, the nineteenth century’s most towering mathematical genius, "did his hardest thinking between 10 a.m. and noon, and again between five and seven in the afternoon," . He worked 4 hours a day.

🚶 After some hours of focused work, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics Eugene Wigner takes a walk.

"Once outside, my mind immediately begins to move freely and instinctively over my subject. Ideas come rushing to my mind, without being called." – Eugene Wigner

Paul Dirac echoed this by stating, "I would not intentionally think about my work" during these walks.

🔗 More the subject: The Diffused Mode: How to Solve a Difficult Problem.

Sara Mednick discovered that by balancing sleep pressure, circadian rhythm, and sleep type you can tailor a nap to your needs:

• 🤡 Creative stimulation: 1-hour nap taken 5 hours after waking.
• 🏎️ Mental recharge without feeling groggy: 20-minute nap taken 6 hours after waking.
• 🤸 Physical restoration: 1-hour nap taken 7 hours after waking.

The main takeaway from the “Sleep” and “Nap” chapters: No sleep is lost time!

I don’t know what you will do now, but I’m going to take a nap and enjoy some deliberate rest for the rest of the day. 😴

Have a restful week!

Lukas 💤