Relaxing on Purpose

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I spent some time thinking about how we relax. Personally I find that there are two ways achieve "down time".  The first way is when I intentionally plan to take some time relaxing.  This occurs when my wife and I decide to watch a movie, go on a walk, take some vacation and visit family, or go to the lake.  The second way is when I have a list of things that I need to work on, but I really want to take a break.  In this situation, I intend to do work, but instead I find myself fiddling with some gadget, browsing the web, etc.

The first way of getting down time is relaxing, fun and refreshing.
The second is frustrating and makes me feel worn out and like I need to
take another break. Avoiding work often seems to be more exhausting
than work itself.

It is far more productive for me to intentionally do something
recreational when I feel like it than to tell myself that I’m going to
work but not do it.  If I don’t feel like working I shouldn’t try to
force myself.  It doesn’t result in any significant accomplishment and
if anything gets done it takes 10 times as long. (Obviously if the work
is on a deadline and has to be finished, I don’t have an option, but in
those situations I don’t end up procrastinating anyway.)

One advantage of this approach is that it trains you to not
procrastinate.  If you don’t feel like working–you don’t work. There
is not of this sitting around finding things to distract yourself with
while you avoid a task.  On the other hand when work needs done, you
focus on the task at hand.  Just knowing that you are giving yourself a
choice, puts you in a different mindset and lets you put all of your
mental energy behind what you are doing at the moment.

Obviously this type of setup only works for people who actually enjoy
their work.  If you hate what you do for a living, this advice will
probably lead to unemployment.  However, I doubt that people who hate
their jobs are going to be spending much time reading a website about
increasing their productivity.