Blog Post 42: Reclaiming Your Time with Restorative Activities

We want to highlight a terrific article in the New York Times by Laura Vanderkam, author of the forthcoming book “Tranquility by Tuesday: Nine Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters.” She makes a compelling argument on why “quiet quitting” is not a helpful response to burnout or distress at work. Instead, she argues that we should actively spend time on things that are restorative for us. In her work, she has found that people who put time and effort into things they really enjoy feel less burned out and that their time is more abundant. 

As we’ve talked about at length, Type C people are far less likely to recharge through creative, restorative activities. Type C’ers will instead keep adding things to their to-do lists in an effort to not disappoint others - taking valuable time away from their own self care. Always doing for others can lead to resentment, a powerful, lingering, and draining emotion. Often Type C’ers are not fully aware that resentment is building. Suppressing emotions, as Type C'ers customarily do, can lead to tension around the body and make people more susceptible to migraines, pelvic floor issues, and stomach problems. 

When we feel resentful and mindlessly move from one task to the next instead of being more thoughtful in how we choose to spend our time, we have less to look forward to, less that feels meaningful to us in life. Engaging in activities we are passionate about gets us into the “flow” - the space where we are sharply focused, feel joy, and where ideas come quickly and easily.  Studies conducted by Laura Vanderkam have shown that putting more effort into an activity that matters to you can lead to significant improvement in outlook and mood. For Type C people, the first step is to start noticing what you are putting your time into and be willing to feel uncomfortable as you pivot away from doing so many things for others to doing more meaningful and restorative activities for yourself. One example is going overboard on volunteer activities in school, church/synagogue, or in the community. While these are not meaningless, often Type C people default to saying yes to a lot more than they can realistically handle in order to avoid feeling guilt.