While reading the paper last Sunday morning, I was reminded of why I prioritize getting up and out the door to my weekly yoga classes. According to Tony Schwartz, author of Being Excellent at Anything, “strategic renewal — including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations — boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.”
Given my post-yoga rewards of physical release and emotional calm, I am inclined to agree with the growing body of research that shows “paradoxically, the best way to get more done may be to spend more time doing less.” Years ago when writing my dissertation, I’d discover myself aimlessly shopping in and out of stores. I’d often ask myself what I was doing, knowing that work awaited me, and each time the answer would be the same — “I need to be away from it in order to go back to it.” Eventually, the dissertation got finished and, for years, I’ve believed that my excursions to browse kept me from burn-out.