“Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.” Psalms 121:4 NLT
There are days where you feel like you have the energy to fly over the moon. On other days, your brain goes on recess making you feel like you’re having a hangover. And in both scenarios, you’re at work trying to meet your deadlines. There’s nothing wrong with both scenarios, but if you’re constantly feel like the second scenario, something needs fixing.
Experts say taking a power nap in the middle of your workday helps you recharge. I never used to take power naps. Instead, after pushing my body to its limit, it’ll black out for one or two hours midday. Even though I would work all night and sometimes dream of work in the name of hustle, I used to lose productive hours.
I can say this is the benefit of working from home, but it’s also the negative consequence of thinking we should work all the time. The focus scripture can make you think that God has His eyes darting around the earth at every second. But it’s not literal. He simply has systems that support His integrity of faithfulness and alertness. For most workaholics, we don’t even know how to delegate, talk less of multiplying ourselves.
How can we have such integrity so that we get work done as if we never slept?
1. Understand that you’re doing something wrong. It’s easy to say that everyone else is doing it wrong, and so that’s why you must take up the task yourself. But having to accept everyone else’s tasks is also wrong and makes no sense. It doesn’t matter how slow or bad they seem, there are better ways to get those tasks done. Read up.
2. Learn about systems and automation. I always wondered how top executives could be away from work for weeks and yet receive accolades for the results from their team. Their results proved that they did not slumber or sleep. Getting into operations revealed to me just how effective systems can be. But it’s still taking me a lifetime to learn it.
3. Resist the urge to be perfect. As someone raised by a perfectionist mum, I resented perfectionism until I realised that my quest to please her made me a perfectionist. Systems will not give you results that satisfy your insecurity to always be perfect, but they will achieve the set objectives every time.
Now, for every finished task that my workaholic brain calls imperfect, I must consciously ask myself, “did this task achieve its objective?” If it ticks all the boxes, then I must move to the next. I fight this battle daily and sometimes I lose. But we go again tomorrow.
Working all night and losing productive hours doesn’t make you superhuman. Instead, it shows there’s a knowledge void that you need to fill. To appear like you never slept requires more than these three tips, but this article should get you started.
Today’s Task: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, measure your alertness at the end of your day.
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