Transcripts
1. Introduction: Do you currently consider
yourself a workaholic? Weight? Not only do you consider
yourself a workaholic, you're proud of this. You like the fact
that you worked so hard where you
don't rest at all. Does this sound like you? If so, I can empathize with you. For a large period of my life, i2 was a workaholic. And to this day, many would say that I still am a workaholic. It took me cognitive effort to understand that there is an
importance of relaxation. It doesn't matter
which field you're em. Relaxing allows for
ongoing consistency. In this beginner's
class into relaxation, you're going to first understand what exactly
it means to relax. You're going to understand
the importance of relaxing. You're going to
understand the beauty of compartmentalizing and
creating time-frames, along with a final project in
the end that will allow you to practice relaxing
in your life. Does that sound interesting? If so, I look forward
to seeing you inside.
2. What is Relaxation?: Relaxing means to engage in an activity that is stress free. Now, as you can tell, this is a very
subjective definition. And let me give you
an example. For me. I love fishing. Anytime I'm fishing in a lake
or an ocean, I feel calm. But whenever I have
a friend that's visiting me from, let's say, out-of-town, who's
joining me on fishing. They don't like it too much. They don't like the little hook. They keep thinking
that it's going to get stuck in their palm. And as for niggling
with this hook, they're feeling a lot of stress. They don't like to
be around water. The entire activity is something that makes them nauseous. So what one person is finding, relaxing, another person is
finding an anxious activity. So one of the things
that you want to understand is that to relax means different
things to different people. Just understand that
it is engaging in an activity that is stress free.
3. Importance of Relaxation: One of my IT jobs that I was N It was divided
into three shifts. For the first shift there
working in the morning. For the second shift,
they're working around afternoon or evening. For the third shift, they're working all the
way at nighttime. One time at the
third shift person called off and I had to fill in. So I fill in and I'm joined by someone else that's
working in the third shift. Let's call them Rick. As I'm observing Rick
and he's telling me what he normally does
in the third shift, I come to realize that
he doesn't do much. He's pretty much just surfing the Internet
the entire time. Until there's one activity
that he has hired for. That activity is to turn off
the machines that have been running for the entire day and to give it
some time to rest. I ask Rick, Well, why do machines have the
rest for their machines? They're complex entities that should be able to
function no matter what. Rick looks back at
me and he says, That's what I also thought to one time there was no
one in the third shift. The machines didn't
get its rest. And you know what happened? First shift. Second shift
saw the repercussions. That day. I learned that even
machines need to rest. That's when I realized.
If machines need to rest, that means humans to need
to rest because we too are complex entities
that are put into complex systems
known as societies. And this is why relaxing
is so important. It allows you to recharge. You may be able to
overcome it for some time. But if you're in the
long haul, eventually, to overcome burnout, you
must factor in rest.
4. Find a Sweet Spot: If you work too much,
then you're workaholic. If you rest too much,
then you're lazy. The key is to find a sweet spot. That works for you. To find the sweet spot, you're going to
have to experiment. What works for one person may not necessarily work
for another person. To give you an
example, there was a period when I was
trying to do 5050. I wanted to work 50% of the day and I wanted to rest
50 per cent of the day. My logical mind just felt like this was the
rational thing to do. I tried it for some time and I noticed that for my
personality type, this 5050 split was not optimal. So I experimented some more. I toggled around with the data. I toggled around with my day. And eventually I realized that waking up at
five in the morning, working till six to 07:00
PM and then resting up until I go to sleep
was optimal for me. It took a couple of
months to decide this. And to this day, I'm
still experimenting. So what you want to do
is you want to make yourself the son of
the solar system. You want to optimize you for what allows
you to feel carefree. Maybe you're one of
those people like me that wants to work more, but you will still
factor in your rest. You're just not the kind of guy. Or maybe you're someone
that thrives off 5050. The best thing to do is
introspect and keep on experimenting until you
find your sweet spot.
5. Create Compartments: Do you remember the school
when you were taught? History, psychology, social
studies, math, et cetera. And there was a
different teacher that was teaching each
of those subjects. Why? Why didn't they just
get all those subjects super into one and teach it
to you at the same time. Is because the school
system understood the importance of
creating compartments. That's how the brain
loves to give and take information
through compartments. And likewise, you could do
something very similar, especially when you're trying to compartmentalize work and rest. How through geography,
you should have this productivity zone
where whenever you're entering the zone,
you're strictly working. This helps over time because soon as you're
entering the zone, you understand that this is a place where you're
not fooling around. And just for a little clarity, this place right here is
my productivity zone. Whenever I'm entering here, I'm getting sharp
and to the point. But whenever I leave, that's when I rest. So you too can have the zone
where you are just working. And when you work, you work, when you leave, you rest. See that this is counter-intuitive
to a lot of people. They understand that
this is logical, but the way they behave
is completely different. The average Baba, when they're
supposed to be working, they're thinking about rest. When they're supposed
to be resting. That thinking about work, their whole day is in shambles. But if you can use
the information of compartmentalization
towards your favor and you use geography
towards your favor. Then U2 can have a productivity zone
and a relaxation zone.
6. Earn Your Rest: Here's a mantra for you.
Workaholics, earn your rest. When you earn your rest, that's when the rest
becomes so peaceful. You're not thinking
too much about work. Because you know that you've
done your best throughout the day for you to
earn your rest, there needs to be this staple of measurement which
indicates success. What exactly is that
measurement for you? For me, it's simple. It's just a to-do list. Every morning when
I'm waking up, there's a small to-do list. Nothing too complex. It's so simple that
it's just words. Let's say it's consumed,
create market, meditate just four words that will indicate if I
worked effectively. Your to-do list can
be just as simple. But you need something
that measures success. Because once you leave
your productivity zone, you can gauge that
I do a good job, that I do a bad job. No, I did a great job because I crossed off everything
for my to-do list. And once you leave the
productivity zone, now it's a chance for
you to rest and unwind. So the mantra is earn your
rest and create a staple of measurement that allows
you to see whether or not you are working effectively.
7. Experimentation: We're scientists in
this side of the world. One thing of scientists always does is they're
always experimenting. They're never resting
on their laurels. They're always
gathering more data and experimenting some more. And if you are a workaholic, then you of all people
need to experiment with relaxation activities
before ruling out a well, relaxing makes me
even more burnt out. A play around with
some activities. I'll give you a
personal anecdote. And I know I'm giving
a lot of personal anecdotes in this class. But remember what I said. Relaxing is a
subjective experience. And by understanding other people's subjective experiences, it will help you
learn more about your own subjective experiences. There was a period when
I had a close friend who kept telling me to
watch this one TV show. And it was one of the most popular TV shows
out at the moment. And I knew that this was a TV show that I should
be watching during my relaxation sessions.
But there was a problem. The problem was that
I kept postponing it. Every time I was supposed
to watch the show. I will be like, let
me do it later. Let me work some more. So I don't have to
watch this show today. So even though I was
supposed to relax, I wasn't I was postponing
it and working even more. That's when I
realized something. I am postponing the
show because I'm not one of those guys
who likes to relax, watching long form a TV shows or TV shows that are connecting
with one another. Where if you invest
in one episode, you have to invest in another
and another and another. A more of a YouTube guy. I like those small
clips on YouTube where the clips are not
connected with one another. So I can let my mind be free. I don't have to put in
too much cognitive effort in watching a TV show. Because I've been
putting in a lot of cognitive effort while working. I wouldn't have reached this realization if I did
an experiment beforehand. If I didn't have YouTube to
compare this TV show width, than I would've thought that
something was wrong with me. I would've thought, well, everyone else is watching
TV shows to relax. So how come I can't, that means I'm just not
a relaxing kind of guy. But the more that
I experimented, the more that I realize
that i2 can relax, I just need the right
vehicle for me. So if you're someone that
is a workaholic and you're finding it highly
difficult to relax. Just experiment more. You may be doing an activity that is ripe for someone else, but not necessarily for you. And the more that
you experiment, you will find something
that is right for you.
8. Final Project: For the final project section, I want you to answer the
following questions. One, what are the
practical benefits of relaxation to your life? To what is your work
to rest ratio like? Are you one of those
5050 Individuals? Are you one of those 70% work, 30% rest type of
individuals. List that out. And three, what are the activities that
you do in order to relax a compile the answers
and post it right on below. I look forward to reading it. If you enjoyed this
beginner's class on how to relax and you want more content from the
Armani talks brand. Be sure to check out
our money talks.com, which has plenty of Maya, blogs, books, videos,
and much more. Money. Talks.com, go
on and check it out.
Arman Chowdhury, Confidence thru Communication
