Last year it became apparent to me that I should be taking a Sabbath each week to rest and focus on what was most important in my life. Now, before I lose you, I want to make it clear that while there is certainly a biblical mandate to rest as God rested on the seventh day of creating the universe, I think that a sabbath holds value for everyone regardless of their beliefs. (Of course, if your sabbath isn’t God-focused, it will look different than mine, but the principle of resting and resetting holds true regardless.)
Building a sabbath into your week provides a whole host of physical and mental benefits if you understand why you’re doing it and how to do it well. (And while this is not the primary motivation for Christians who observe the Sabbath, it’s a clear benefit nonetheless.) In fact, this is the same concept behind the 4-day work week that some corporations are adopting these days. The result is a better work-life balance, greater satisfaction in the work that you do, and improved overall health.
So, let’s talk about how a sabbath can drive significant personal and professional growth.
Building a sabbath into your week provides a whole host of physical and mental benefits if you understand why you’re doing it and how to do it well. (And while this is not the primary motivation for Christians who observe the Sabbath, it’s a clear benefit nonetheless.) In fact, this is the same concept behind the 4-day work week that some corporations are adopting these days. The result is a better work-life balance, greater satisfaction in the work that you do, and improved overall health.
So, let’s talk about how a sabbath can drive significant personal and professional growth.
In my own experience, there are three main ways in which a sabbath transforms you:
It Allows Time for Rest
The most obvious benefit of taking a sabbath is that it builds rest into your week, which many people are sorely in need of these days. However, when done well, the kind of rest it provides isn’t necessarily what you might think. A sabbath rest doesn’t mean sleeping until noon or staying in your pajamas all day. A sabbath allows your brain and body to rest and recharge by simply offering a break from the demands from the rest of the week. And while many of us have physically non-demanding desk jobs, our brains get quite a workout while we’re in work-mode. But, by setting aside a day where no work will be done, you force your brain to disconnect from your work.
This is by no means a new idea! These days the concept of needing to let our heads rest is being widely utilized in schools across the country where students of all ages are being given “brain breaks” as a regular part of their day to improve their performance, concentration, and mental wellness. Studies across all major research institutions on everyone from office employees to school children to medical personnel show that a break is required to perform your duties effectively.
I’ll be honest though, this was probably my biggest fear when I started because as someone that’s self-employed, I was used to working around the clock every day of the week. I was afraid that if I stepped away from it, I might not find my way back into my work with the same dedication or focus as before. But I was wrong. Every Monday I can jump right back into work bright an early with the same fervor that I had when I closed everything down. And my brain isn’t foggy! I review the notes and project management tasks that I have waiting for me and jump right back into where I was the previous week, but with a sense of deep satisfaction.
A sabbath allows you to approach the week renewed and ready to do it all again.
It Resets Your Priorities
Now, I think it’s important to note that if you’re doing it right, a sabbath isn’t running from something – it’s running to something. As a Christian, that’s a deeper relationship with God for me. I don’t know what that looks like for you. You’ll have to decide what kind of things you’ll prioritize while taking a sabbath. But whatever it is, a sabbath should point you to something of real value because I promise you that if your sabbath is centered around binge watching TV or scrolling on social media, it even won’t come close to providing the same kinds of benefits that we’re discussing here. (And if you set aside downtime to rest and can’t find anything worthwhile to fill it with, that may be a big wakeup call that you need to be searching for something more meaningful to base your life around than what you have now.)
Use your sabbath to devote your time and energy to something life-giving – something that will help you to fulfill what you were truly meant to do with your time.
It Teaches Discipline
It would be irresponsible for me to make it seem like taking a sabbath is something that can just instantly happen in your life as soon as you realize that it’s a good idea. So, I think it’s important to explain that a sabbath rest is something you need to carefully plan ahead of time. Working until 11:59 on a Saturday and then just ignoring all your responsibilities for 24 hours isn’t going to do you any good and isn’t a mature way to handle your personal and professional duties. Preparing for a sabbath by doing everything that needs to get done earlier in the week is crucial.
Knowing that you need to shift the work you were used to doing on Sundays to Saturday (or the weekdays prior) teaches you the kind of discipline that will help you grow tremendously as a professional. It will make you more prompt with your work and timely in your responses because you know that you have a deadline to honor.
A sabbath teaches you how to plan well and buckle down to get everything done.
…Are you overwhelmed yet? If you’re reading this article and thinking to yourself, “Sure, a break each week would be nice, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day!” what you need is someone to help lighten the load. Reach out to us today for help with your content creation needs! We can provide optimized copywriting services as well as SEO work and social media management. We can handle your content marketing needs so you can spend less time writing and promoting your content. Contact us today to find out more!
It Allows Time for Rest
The most obvious benefit of taking a sabbath is that it builds rest into your week, which many people are sorely in need of these days. However, when done well, the kind of rest it provides isn’t necessarily what you might think. A sabbath rest doesn’t mean sleeping until noon or staying in your pajamas all day. A sabbath allows your brain and body to rest and recharge by simply offering a break from the demands from the rest of the week. And while many of us have physically non-demanding desk jobs, our brains get quite a workout while we’re in work-mode. But, by setting aside a day where no work will be done, you force your brain to disconnect from your work.
This is by no means a new idea! These days the concept of needing to let our heads rest is being widely utilized in schools across the country where students of all ages are being given “brain breaks” as a regular part of their day to improve their performance, concentration, and mental wellness. Studies across all major research institutions on everyone from office employees to school children to medical personnel show that a break is required to perform your duties effectively.
I’ll be honest though, this was probably my biggest fear when I started because as someone that’s self-employed, I was used to working around the clock every day of the week. I was afraid that if I stepped away from it, I might not find my way back into my work with the same dedication or focus as before. But I was wrong. Every Monday I can jump right back into work bright an early with the same fervor that I had when I closed everything down. And my brain isn’t foggy! I review the notes and project management tasks that I have waiting for me and jump right back into where I was the previous week, but with a sense of deep satisfaction.
A sabbath allows you to approach the week renewed and ready to do it all again.
It Resets Your Priorities
Now, I think it’s important to note that if you’re doing it right, a sabbath isn’t running from something – it’s running to something. As a Christian, that’s a deeper relationship with God for me. I don’t know what that looks like for you. You’ll have to decide what kind of things you’ll prioritize while taking a sabbath. But whatever it is, a sabbath should point you to something of real value because I promise you that if your sabbath is centered around binge watching TV or scrolling on social media, it even won’t come close to providing the same kinds of benefits that we’re discussing here. (And if you set aside downtime to rest and can’t find anything worthwhile to fill it with, that may be a big wakeup call that you need to be searching for something more meaningful to base your life around than what you have now.)
Use your sabbath to devote your time and energy to something life-giving – something that will help you to fulfill what you were truly meant to do with your time.
It Teaches Discipline
It would be irresponsible for me to make it seem like taking a sabbath is something that can just instantly happen in your life as soon as you realize that it’s a good idea. So, I think it’s important to explain that a sabbath rest is something you need to carefully plan ahead of time. Working until 11:59 on a Saturday and then just ignoring all your responsibilities for 24 hours isn’t going to do you any good and isn’t a mature way to handle your personal and professional duties. Preparing for a sabbath by doing everything that needs to get done earlier in the week is crucial.
Knowing that you need to shift the work you were used to doing on Sundays to Saturday (or the weekdays prior) teaches you the kind of discipline that will help you grow tremendously as a professional. It will make you more prompt with your work and timely in your responses because you know that you have a deadline to honor.
A sabbath teaches you how to plan well and buckle down to get everything done.
…Are you overwhelmed yet? If you’re reading this article and thinking to yourself, “Sure, a break each week would be nice, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day!” what you need is someone to help lighten the load. Reach out to us today for help with your content creation needs! We can provide optimized copywriting services as well as SEO work and social media management. We can handle your content marketing needs so you can spend less time writing and promoting your content. Contact us today to find out more!
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