Many of history’s highest achievers were aware of the value of rest:

John D. Rockefeller would take regular breaks from his notoriously demanding schedule to mill about in his garden—it was his personal escape.

Takeaway: When you sprint, sprint hard. When you rest, rest hard.

It’s an asset, not a liability. It’s not about a “break” from productivity.

It’s an integral part of your productivity.

In his calendar, work periods were broken up by periods of rest, conversation, reading, and boredom.

We have to reframe rest and recovery as a core part of our daily systems, not a reward for our efforts.

We don’t need to “earn” our recovery—it should be a central part of our ritual that allows us to thrive.

• Take 15-minute tech-free walks throughout the day to break up blocks of focused work.
• The walk will provide a reset and let your thoughts and ideas mingle.
• The walk is just as much a contributor to the output as the focused work itself.