how to know when it's time to grind vs time to recover
A personal trainer told me once, push until you can't, rest until you can.
Similarly, Dr. Mike Israetel says rest until you feel strong again (between sets at the gym):
If you're fucking like, yeah, let's fucking do this, you're ready. If you still feel curved up in a ball and defeated, how are you going to push it close to failure in the next day? You're not. You're going to suck... You need to be like, Yeah, fucking, let's do this.
He says, if you don't feel strong, your nervous system likely isn't rested enough.
Push until you can't, rest until you can.
Now imagine a world where work doesn't exist. (As in there are no external pressures to work, only your own desires.)
In this world, you listen to your body.
When you feel energetic and ready to go, you tackle your projects.
When you feel tired and drained, you go do something else.
Work until you can't, rest until you feel like "Yeah, let's fucking do this."
This is of course idealistic, but still, listen to your body.
It knows when it's a good time to work and when it isn't.
Fundamentally, burnout comes from repeatedly ignoring what your body needs IMO (see appendix for types of ignoring)
Appendix: Remedies for not feeling it
If I'm tired or can't focus:
- Naps help
- Walks help
- Breaks help
- Food helps
- Meditation helps
But this isn't just about feeling tired. There's also other ways your body can feel not ready for work.
If something is pulling me from outside of work:
- Journaling helps
- Resolving the thing helps
If I feel work is so boring (and it feels like there is no fun in this world at all):
Related: the case against idle time
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