Permission to Rest Without Earning It First - rest as a choice

The piece I keep coming back to

Permission to Rest Without Earning It First

I used to believe rest had to be earned with a full to-do list. Here is what changed my mind, broken into the parts that actually mattered.

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Corinne Baptiste, on why this site argues with itself

There is a version of wellness that never asks you the only question worth asking, which is whether the thing you are about to do is worth the hour it takes. I spent most of my thirties answering a different question instead, the one about whether I could keep it up, and I could, and that turned out to be the problem.

So I write the reasons down now. Not the routine, not the equipment, not where to go on a Saturday to feel restored.1 Just the motive, and then the honest accounting of what it took. Some weeks the accounting comes out in favour of doing the thing. Plenty of weeks it does not, and I have learned to write those weeks up too.2

I number things because I think in numbers. It is not a system and I am not selling it. It is closer to marking up a book you intend to argue with later, which is more or less what I am doing here with my own life.3

Corinne Baptiste, who keeps the notes

4

The pieces I photographed while arguing with myself

Three from the last few weeks, each one filed the day I worked out what it was actually costing me.

See the whole set
Four Questions I Ask Before Joining a Group Challenge - other people's goals Why I Quit Cold Plunging After Three Months - wellness i quit I Could Not Explain Why I Kept Going to the Same Class - why i do this

Eight running arguments

Where the notes are filed

All articles
I Could Not Explain Why I Kept Going to the Same Class - why i do this Why I Do This 5 articles How I Decide What Gets My Time - what is worth it What Is Worth It 5 articles Why I Quit Cold Plunging After Three Months - wellness i quit Wellness I Quit 5 articles Permission to Rest Without Earning It First - rest as a choice Rest as a Choice 5 articles Optimizing Myself Into Exhaustion - the cost of optimizing The Cost of Optimizing 5 articles How I Decide What Earns a Spot Back on the List - doing less better Doing Less Better 5 articles Four Questions I Ask Before Joining a Group Challenge - other people's goals Other People's Goals 5 articles What I Actually Ask Myself Once a Month, Not Every Day - checking in with myself Checking In With Myself 5 articles
"For most of my adult life, my answer to any wellness problem was to add something."

From The Core That Was Left When I Stopped Adding

Recently annotated

What went into the margin this month

Browse everything
What I Actually Ask Myself Once a Month, Not Every Day - checking in with myself Checking In With Myself What I Actually Ask Myself Once a Month, Not Every Day I stopped trying to reflect every day and moved my real check-in to once a month. Here is what that rhythm looks like and… Rest as a Choice Versus Rest as a Collapse - rest as a choice Rest as a Choice Rest as a Choice Versus Rest as a Collapse The Cost I Forget to Count - what is worth it What Is Worth It The Cost I Forget to Count The Habit Streak That Outlasted the Habit - the cost of optimizing The Cost of Optimizing The Habit Streak That Outlasted the Habit How I Picked the Five Things I Actually Do - doing less better Doing Less Better How I Picked the Five Things I Actually Do A practical method for narrowing a long list of wellness habits down to a handful that actually get done, and why the cutting is… How I Exit a Goal Without Explaining Myself to Anyone - other people's goals Other People's Goals How I Exit a Goal Without Explaining Myself to Anyone Why I Quit the 5am Club After Six Weeks of Forcing It - wellness i quit Wellness I Quit Why I Quit the 5am Club After Six Weeks of Forcing It The Habit I Kept Because Stopping Felt Like Losing an Argument - why i do this Why I Do This The Habit I Kept Because Stopping Felt Like Losing an Argument The One Question I Ask Myself at the End of Every Day - checking in with myself Checking In With Myself The One Question I Ask Myself at the End of Every Day Saying No to Plans So I Can Actually Rest - rest as a choice Rest as a Choice Saying No to Plans So I Can Actually Rest Protecting rest often means disappointing someone. Here is how I got more comfortable with that trade. The Things I Stopped Trying to Fit In - what is worth it What Is Worth It The Things I Stopped Trying to Fit In The Week I Tracked Everything and Learned Nothing - the cost of optimizing The Cost of Optimizing The Week I Tracked Everything and Learned Nothing

The latest under each argument

All eight

Why I Do This

All 5

What Is Worth It

All 5

Wellness I Quit

All 5

Rest as a Choice

All 5

The Cost of Optimizing

All 5

Doing Less Better

All 5

Other People's Goals

All 5

Checking In With Myself

All 5