Happy Monday 🌞
As you read this, I’ll likely be on the beach in Mexico (or sleeping, either would be great!). I scheduled this newsletter last week, excited to take my first real vacation in a long time. I’ll be spending four days in Mexico with the primary purpose of relaxing. The agenda includes reading, sleeping, eating, and not being responsible for others.
Rest has been on my mind these last few weeks after a busy May and June and an upcoming move. A few issues ago, I mentioned a book I’ve been reading, The Power of Full Engagement. This book was recommended to me by my manager Joel Gascoigne, Buffer’s CEO, after I told him I’d been struggling with low energy throughout May.
He recommended the book on a Wednesday, I started reading it on Friday, and finished it by Sunday. The book was exactly what I needed — a reminder of the power of implementing real downtime and disconnection into your overall routines, plus a framework for looking at energy from the perspective of physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional.
If the topic of energy sounds like a good fit for you right now, I recommend giving the book a read. I found it quick to read and start to implement.
The book got me thinking about something I’ve been really bad at over the years: taking breaks throughout the workday. It would be easy for me to sit down at my laptop and stay there until I’m done with work, but a little bit of intention with breaks, rest, and how I start and end the day goes a long way to increasing my creative energy throughout the day and ensuring I don’t end the day completely drained.
Part of the work I do with systems and routines is to keep my life a balanced version of calm and productive, so here are a few ways I add in rest and intention throughout the workday to achieve that end result.
☀️ Starting the day with intention
I start each day by setting intentions for the day and reminding myself of my daily habits and my overall goals. It helps to have a consistent way to begin the day that sets you up for success and ensures you’re intentional about how you want to spend your time.
I find if I start the morning catching up on Slack (the rest of my team is online well before me, so I always have a lot of notifications), I start the day at a chaotic pace and it doesn’t serve my most productive morning hours.
My specific routine is setting up my Daily Journal in Notion. In it, I document my intention for the day and list out one thing I want to get done. I usually have quite a few things on my list, but it’s helpful to start the day focused on which one I want to ensure I finish today. The same Daily Journal automatically loads a habit tracker with the habits I’m currently focused on, along with the goals I’m working towards. It helps me to start my day focused.
👟 Moving once a day
Movement is another way to rest your mind while energizing your body. When it’s not as hot as it currently is in Tennessee, I enjoy outdoor walks. Otherwise, I have a treadmill in my office and a yoga mat for breaks.
I usually have a standing desk setup with my treadmill, which makes walking during meetings a really solid option. I currently have the standing desk put away while we shuffle things during the move, but I’m looking forward to having that setup working again.
If I can get some movement in and I’m not sitting all day, it makes a huge difference in my energy levels.
☕️ Taking small breaks between types of work
Throughout the day, I look for chances to take breaks between different types of work. Rather than forcing a rigid schedule on myself, I look for natural transition points when I finish one type of work, like editing content, and am moving to another type of work, like my own writing or data analysis. In between meetings is another natural opportunity for a quick reset.
During those breaks, I usually make myself some more tea or step outside for fresh air. I aim to disconnect completely so I can sit back at my desk a little extra refreshed and ready to dive in again.
💻 Closing down fully at the end of the workday
Similar to my start-of-day routine, I keep an end-of-day routine. Rather than sending last-minute messages and closing my laptop with a bunch of tabs open, I like to close everything down, clear everything from my desktop, and review my to-do list to make sure I’ve moved any items from today to tomorrow or another day if they didn’t get done.
This creates a clear boundary between work and personal time, which helps me actually disconnect and truly rest in the evening.
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These small practices have been game-changers for maintaining energy throughout the day. The key is finding natural moments to pause and reset rather than pushing through until you’re completely drained.
Ultimately, rest and breaks throughout the day come back to a theme I’ve been covering these last few weeks: the power of knowing yourself. These are the routines that work for me — yours might look different, and that’s exactly as it should be.
What small ways have you found to add rest to your workday? I’d love to hear what’s been working for you.
Sending you good vibes from the beach. As always, feel free to reply if this sparks any thoughts or questions. ✨
See you next Monday,
Hailley
“Most of us are undertrained physically and spiritually (not enough stress) and overtrained mentally and emotionally (not enough recovery).”
- The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
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