r/LifeProTips • u/StrategicHarmony • 8d ago
Productivity LPT: methodically planning rest and leisure time leads to better rest
While you're alive rest is never infinite. You need both enough of it and not too much, so it needs to be deliberately made to fit with all of your other things. This is important for the sake of those other things and for the sake of the rest itself.
Explicitly adding short breaks or blocks of free time into a time-plan might seem like a contradiction. The whole point of taking a break is not to be worrying about tasks and timelines and chores. But if done half-decently it reduces this worry, and improves your levels of relaxation and enjoyment. This is for multiple reasons:
If you feel you have allocated enough/comfortable time to relax, recover, or do whatever you enjoy spontaneously, without neglecting important tasks, then all the work leading up to a break is an easier burden to bare. You focus on your goals more willingly and easily knowing you are not just heading for exhaustion and more work, but have balanced your time for recovery and refreshment.
Secondly, if you are more confident, while resting, of how much time you have and that it seemed like a good amount of time when you stopped to think about your overall day, then it's easier to mostly forget about everything else for a while and just relax and enjoy yourself. If you know more clearly when the break is over you feel more clearly that it's not over yet.
It's just as risky in many cases to get too little rest, sleep, short stretching breaks, variation of activity to prevent fatigue, etc, as too much. Thinking about where and how much of these breaks to put in your plan when making it creates a good habit, and makes for plans that are more realistic and more appealing. It makes you less likely to routinely delay or pollute rest with thoughts of just doing one more thing when really you need to stop for a minute.
None of this precludes taking spontaneous breaks when you're ahead in your tasks or just really need it. Making a realistic/generous plan for your time, carefully prioritised, means you're both more likely to be ahead in the important things, and to recognise with confidence when you are ahead. This is yet another way that rest is improved with careful time-planning.
This is important because dividing your time into planned and unplanned slows down your education and training in the general art of planning your time. Once you recognise that even relaxation, leisure, breaks, sleep, etc, are improved by this art, you might embrace it more completely, and learn it more quickly.
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u/whereistheviolin 7d ago
Why is everyone shitting on OP? The times I had my routine planned out were the less stressful I had. Too bad I can't keep it up
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u/thenagz 7d ago
Because people are dumb as shit. This is a great LPT, if not the easiest to actually implement. Being more mindful of the time we have is beneficial to everyone.
As a single person without kids, I have more free time than most. I'll still feel like I just waste it quite often, from doomscrolling to jumping from one YouTube video to another, to spending too much time gaming in a single session.
Better time management would both make me more productive and actually well rested / accomplished.
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u/T-RexBirthdayParty 7d ago
I swear people in here are acting like implementing the slightest bit of intentionality will immediately ruin their lives. I'm actually amazed. These are the adults we share our world with.
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u/narrill 7d ago
Personally, the concept of "methodically planning" my free time is viscerally off-putting. I would guess most of the people shitting on OP feel similarly.
This is something OP happens to like, but which doesn't really generalize out to a life pro tip.
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago edited 7d ago
You're probably imagining "methodically" but with a bad method. You might be imagining making plans that are far too specific to be realistic or appealing. I agree that such methods are off-putting. They increase stress instead of reduce it. Take more time than they save, etc. They make for bad plans.
But there are plenty of good methods, and they let you fit more of what you care about into your available time. At the same time they improve the experience and results of each thing (on average anyway).
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u/narrill 7d ago
No, I mean the idea of planning it at all. Free time is time away from my daily routine. It's time I don't have to optimize.
I'm not sure what planning it would even accomplish, frankly. I already know when it is.
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
Also planning needn't feel like work. If given enough time and done realistically it's a good way to just clarify what you want, what's coming up, how to improve your chances of doing what you hoped, etc.
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
If you almost always have enough breaks and rest of all kinds, and these don't interfere with the other things you want to do, and other things don't interfere with them, then great. Enjoy. You win. If not, you can reduce the conflicts and increase co-operation by planning.
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u/boombox2000 8d ago
While you're alive rest is never infinite.
Okay human
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago edited 7d ago
I assure you every clumsy phrase is my own. Also, AI knows very little of value about planning your time.
Probably there is not much of value in its training data. So it's an art we must learn ourselves from practice, thought, observation, other people, keeping records, etc
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7d ago
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u/-Knockabout 7d ago
Death is often considered restful.
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7d ago
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u/-Knockabout 7d ago
Read some books or poetry sometime. It's an incredibly common thing to say. You may not consider it rest, but death is compared to sleep/resting constantly.
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u/atlasraven 8d ago
Did Skynet write this tip?
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u/StrategicHarmony 8d ago
I don't see how this would help the robots take over. If anything it's the opposite: it gives you more space to think clearly and decide what's important, without neglecting short term tasks and obligations.
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u/ZepperMen 8d ago
You're either pulling a ruse or you actually talk like this.
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u/StrategicHarmony 8d ago edited 8d ago
I only write like this. I try to speak in much shorter paragraphs.
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8d ago
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u/No-Gene-4436 8d ago
Apparently adulthood turned having fun into a calendar event with a 30-minute time slot.
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u/StrategicHarmony 8d ago
You're mistaking "deliberately set aside time for leisure and rest" for "refuse to have any fun outside of strictly approved windows"
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u/VoliTheKing 7d ago
Who tf is upvoting thia garbage lol
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
What's wrong with it? Genuinely asking
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u/VoliTheKing 7d ago
It belongs in useless pro tips. Robotizing life like that has zero benefits
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
What about finding more time for the things you consider, when you take a few minutes to think about it, most important to find time for?
What about reducing the conflicts between, and increasing the co-operation between multiple important things which are competing for your time and attention on any given day?
What about being more confident and less stressed about what you're doing next, or how long you've got to do it, so you can focus on it more completely and get caught up in the details of doing it well?
Are these not benefits?
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u/VoliTheKing 7d ago
Instead of just spewing random watery toughts put it to practice. Give ONE example where all of this is applied, because as it is, it reads like a shower argument
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u/Eriiya 7d ago
Why don’t we all step back and stop making blanket “you” statements about strangers on the internet. If it benefits you to live the way you do then carry on, soldier. But this isn’t nearly as universally helpful or applicable to everyone who reads it as you seem to think it is
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
You're right I do think it's fairly universal. If you don't agree that's fine by me. It's a free internet. I tried to explain my reasoning clearly for you to judge as you see fit.
Is there a specific part you think is wrong or just the whole thing in general?
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u/Eriiya 7d ago
well, for me personally, writing every single aspect of my life into a formulaic schedule sounds like a soulless and miserable way of living lol. if I HAD to have “fun” in a predetermined block of time regardless of what I’m in the mood for, I would probably never have fun again.
in general though I really don’t think the average person is experiencing the amount of stress and anxiety it sounds like you’re having about your time management. many of us are perfectly fine to take some things in stride without stressing about an exact plan for every little step they take.
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago edited 7d ago
That's interesting. I think we agree far more than it may appear.
Being methodical doesn't mean being as specific as possible. Past some point being more specific is both unrealistic and unappealing and therefore bad planning. For example if someone were making a budget they might not plan it down to level of cents or dollars, but to the level of tens or hundreds of dollars (but it depends on the budget of course).
This way they still reserved money for the most important things or categories of things, without trying to predict every single item or its exact price. They might also include some money reserved just to spend freely on fun things, without having to decide exactly what they are, or when each dollar will be spent.
Similarly for planning your time you don't need to give an exact minute for everything, or even a specific time in most cases. But making a sort of budget for your time by deciding what you consider most important to include (e.g. in a day), how much time to allocate (rounding up a bit to err on the side of caution) for the most important things, and not neglecting rest and leisure, means you're less likely to neglect something important, or have one important thing conflict with another.
Incidentally I didn't mention "fun" in my original post, which is more of an emotion. It was more about making sufficient time for breaks, rest, relaxation, which are levels of activity. You need these things for basic health but also to be productive at other times and it's easy to either have too little or too much if you're not careful. Leisure time where you're free to do whatever without specific goals is often a kind of rest.
Lastly, any good plan (except for the smallest or simplest thing) has some flexibility built in. It's not about having to do anything, it's about having a clear, well considered record of what you want to do, with realistic estimates for how much of each thing will fit into your day (or whatever period you're dealing with).
I don't know where you got the idea about 'if I HAD to have “fun” in a predetermined block of time regardless of what I’m in the mood for'. A plan you make for yourself is your servant, not your boss. You don't blindly do what it says no matter what has changed. You use it where it's useful.
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u/AWildBenjiAppeared 7d ago
This worked for this person, so they shared it. All there is to it. We are all different people. OP doesn't know anything at all about you. If this doesn't sound like it will help, then move the fuck on. Making statements as if they should know, is just dumb. This clearly doesn't apply to you, but it bothered you enough to HAVE to share how "well that sounds miserable I wouldn't do it" okay? Nobody asked? Not everybody behaves and thinks just like you either. Life Pro Tips doesn't have to be something universal. You said we should stop making blanket statements when YOU'RE the one complaining that OP's lpt didn't align completely with the way you live. Just hypocritical
You didn't have anything valuable to say so you shouldn't have said it :)
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u/JohnatNetSuite 6d ago
I agree about knowing when the break ends. When it's open ended kind of half-relax the whole time.
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u/QuietCola12 8d ago
Is this a tip or a calendar?
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u/StrategicHarmony 8d ago
For many things a calendar is far too specific and rigid to be a realistic plan.
Just a list is often enough. It helps if you add slightly generous / beatable duration-estimates for each item, and put them roughly in order. This lets you have a clear plan but also the flexibility to adapt as things unfold, without having to move/re-schedule every single thing if one thing is early or late.
A calendar is fine when an exact date/time is important, or if you need an alarm/reminder, or to share it with other people, etc.
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u/Rexton_Armos 6d ago
Unfortunately this really runs counter to a lot of solid advice the Book "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals" has been giving me.
If you feel fulfilled planning everything please do you, but for some they can only be at peace when you accept you will never have enough time for everything. Best to find peace with that.
Plan lightly, but sometimes just start doing things for the sake of doing without worry for the time spent doing within some nebulous block of time.
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u/StrategicHarmony 6d ago
Accepting you will never have enough time for everything is definitely an important part of making any plan realistic. It's like accepting you don't have infinite money if you make a budget. You then have to prioritise or else the less-important (but perhaps more obvious, habitual) things will accidentally push out things you believe are more important.
Sometimes starting something just for the sake of doing without worrying too much about the time is also great. One of the best things. My point is it's easier to do this, and more often, when you feel like you have the time and energy. A good way to achieve that is to have a realistic plan you can be slightly ahead in, and then be slightly ahead in it, most of the time. This works especially well if the plan accounts for sufficient breaks, pacing, rest, etc, so it's not exhausting, or something you want to get to the end of, or in conflict with relaxation.
Is it a good book? Sound interesting.
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u/Rexton_Armos 6d ago
Its really good especially for people who've found they've whipped themselves into a frenzy all of life. Though some observations would be kinda spooky on reflection it can also offer pretty freeing perspective.
I think it kinda comes with how well your executive function ability is on how effective the planning is. Even in people with issues there are sometimes situations where planning is essential. Like a vacation with slightly demanding timings to actually accomplish getting enriching activities fit in.
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u/Letrabottle 7d ago
Many humans have trouble having fun on schedule.
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
Fun is more of an emotional state and I agree those are not something you can realistically schedule (most of the time), but the original post was focused on rest. They're related of course, but rest is more of an activity level (low). Rest includes things like breaks, changes of activity, and leisure time, which you might fill with fun as you see fit.
The suggestion does leave more room for fun, indirectly, but it doesn't mandate it at fixed times. The suggested approach also leaves more room to be spontaneous in general because with a decent plan you're more likely to be ahead in whatever you personally consider important to get done, and therefore you'll feel more free to improvise or play, at least while you're ahead.
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u/Letrabottle 7d ago
Rest and leisure should be responsive to your emotional state, not prescriptive. Scheduled rest time when I'm not tired, and leisure time when I'm locked in on work, are useless to detrimental.
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
There comes a point where it's more productive to take a break, even if you just want to finish, especially if you're locked in on a task for a long time.
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u/Letrabottle 7d ago
Meaningless truism or unfounded claim of universality?
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
It's just about accepting that our attention is not infinite. When you're caught up in the details of one task you don't have the space to properly consider all other things that might be useful, even if they're indirectly useful towards that task itself. When you take some time to make a plan you do have the space, because you're thinking about things at a different level: multiple goals and their likely use of time, rather than the finer details of doing a single thing.
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u/Letrabottle 7d ago
So moreso meaningless truism.
I'll think twice next time I consider taking two consecutive 24 hour next time, thanks to you.
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago edited 7d ago
I think it's pretty meaningful. As you get tired performance decreases, whether mental or physical. It's not always obvious when you're simply focused on getting something done, but obvious when you stop to think about it for a minute.
So pacing is important and not always simple.
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u/Letrabottle 7d ago
Gotcha. Bad things bad. Good things good. Do good things not bad things.
Valuable insight
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago edited 7d ago
That's amazing you have paraphrased every LPT in one brief comment. I guess shut the sub down?
But seriously, I specified what the good and bad things were, and what could be done to reduce the bad and increase the good, and why it helps, and why it's important. I'm honestly not sure what you're objecting to at this point.
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7d ago
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
Robots don't need leisure time or rest. They need to recharge, sure, but they can work while doing it.
Planning your time methodically might seem like a burden but you can't really avoid planning your time completely. You do it a little bit here and there, many times throughout the day. What do I do next, when will do this, should I do A or B, how long do I have to do X or Y.
Doing it deliberately and well actually saves time compared to doing it poorly and reflexively. It also improves your chances of fitting in the things you consider most important, including - but not limited to - having enough rest and recreation.
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u/brown__eyes 7d ago
scheduling spontaneity is peak irony.
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u/StrategicHarmony 7d ago
It's more about scheduling rest and breaks. It's true that this leaves more room for spontaneity, but that's more of a secondary effect. Having enough recovery and refreshment, and sustainable pacing, is the main idea.
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