86 – The Importance of Taking Breaks

Laura

0:06
Hi, this is Laura Lee Griffin.

Nikki

0:08
And this is Nikki May, with Startist Society, inspiring you to stop getting in your own way and start building an art biz and life that you love.

Laura

0:17
We are artists who believe strongly in the power of community, accountability, following your intuition, taking small actionable steps and breaking down the barriers of fear and procrastination that keep you stuck.

Nikki

0:30
Follow along with us on our creative business journey as we encourage you on yours.

Laura

0:39
Oh my gosh, Nikki, so much has happened in our personal lives in the last couple of months. I know we talked about this a bit in episode 76, but let’s see… I sprained my ankle severely and broke my toe and was on crutches for five weeks. Just call me Grace.

Nikki

0:56
No, I don’t think so.

Laura

0:59
And I’m currently in the process of selling my place in Dallas and moving to Oklahoma. And I currently have the equivalent of probably five Dick Blick stores and half of Amazon, all in boxes in my new house. Who wants to come to my garage sale?

Nikki

1:15
Yeah, but Laura, now you’re living in the same city as Tyler Thrasher, who we interviewed in episode 38. How cool is that?

Laura

1:22
Super cool.

Nikki

1:24
But yeah, we’ve both had a lot going on in our lives. Aside from the fact that I’m just now getting over COVID, we’re both completely unsettled. I’ve been talking about moving into the bus for months and months. But I haven’t talked about all the insane delays and issues I’ve had to deal with. I’ve actually moved in and out of the bus three different times and I’m now actually living in the bus in the parking lot of the RV repair shop. So yeah, we’ll still have an episode where we go into a lot of detail about the whole thing. But this isn’t that episode.

Laura

2:01
Well, first off, we just want to say thank you to YOU for listening and being a part of our community. We hope that you’re getting some really great information.

Nikki

2:11
And laughs!

Laura

2:12
And laughs, of course. We crack each other up on a regular basis and we hope that you get a giggle or two out of our silly antics.

Nikki

2:21
Yeah, even if you’re laughing at us and not with us, we’re fine with that. So, we love putting this podcast together, planning our topics based on both what we want to share and what you’ve told us that you want to hear.

Laura

2:35
And let’s not forget talking to so many amazing creative entrepreneurs and artists along the way.

Nikki

2:41
Oh my God, that’s my favorite part. I just love interviewing all these amazing people that we’ve had the chance to have on the podcast. But Laura, we need a break!

Laura

2:51
Yeah, so let’s talk a bit about that. When it comes to social media, to podcasting, marketing and more, folks are so worried that they’ll be forgotten if they take a break. Do you think that’s true, Nikki?

Nikki

3:05
No, I don’t think it’s true that people who really relate to you and your message will forget you if you take a break. If they’re truly a part of your community, or are fans of what you’re doing, they really care about you and they want the best for you. I’ve heard several podcast episodes lately about how to deal with overwhelm and burnout, how to come back from burnout. And I really think the best way to avoid it is to take a break when you feel it coming on.

Laura

3:32
Yeah, we live in a society that seems to praise busyness and burning the candle at both ends. But it’s time for us to shift this paradigm and begin to recognize the importance of rest, of pacing yourself and preserving your energy. Because you gonna be far more productive that way.

Nikki

3:50
I’m actually pretty bad at this on a day to day basis. I don’t take enough breaks during the work day, even though I know how important it is. If I didn’t have to walk my dog, I’d probably never take a break.

Laura

4:01
Thank you Rocket. Yeah, me too. I find myself sitting in a chair for eight hours sometimes without moving. And luckily I have a bladder of steel.

Nikki

4:12
Yeah, but 1. that’s really bad for your bladder. And 2. when I do that, I can barely stand up when I try. But I’m old.

Laura

4:22
Oh, I’m old too. And I’m not actually recommending that, but yes, I now make what I call old person sounds when I get up and down out of chairs. And for some reason I always say the word “oy.” And I have no idea why it just started like two years ago.

Nikki

4:38
Two years ago. You mean right around the time when you started hanging out with my old Jewish self?

Laura

4:44
So true. Well, there’s actually a great book on this topic called “Rest. Why you get more Done When You Work Less” by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang. Now overwork is the new normal, rest is something we think we can do only when the important things are done, but they’re never really done right?

Nikki

5:04
They’re never done.

Laura

5:05
They’re never done. So looking at different forms of rest from sleep to vacation, the author dispels the myth that the harder we work, the better the outcome. He combined scientific research with many examples of writers, painters and thinkers to challenge our tendency to see rest and relaxation as something negative. Deliberate rest is the true key to productivity, and will give us more energy, sharper ideas and a better life. So the book offers a roadmap to rediscovering the importance of rest in our lives, and a convincing argument that we need to relax more if we actually want to get more done.

Nikki

5:41
Absolutely. I also just read an article on forbes.com called “The Benefits of Resting and How to Unplug in a Busy World.” It lists a number of very convincing reasons for resting and unplugging, including healing your body, reducing stress, boosting creativity… and it also gives you a list of restful techniques to help.

Laura

6:03
Nice.

Nikki

6:04
So before we reach the point of burnout, we’ve decided to give ourselves permission to take a little break.

Laura

6:11
And we encourage you to do the same. This can look many different ways. For example, I know some artists like Ohn Mar Win, who purposefully takes a month off every year from social media. She uses that time to regroup, gather inspiration, and she always comes back brimming with new ideas. And her followers haven’t abandoned her. If anything, we’re eager to see what she has to share from her break.

Nikki

6:35
Yeah, and I just got finished saying that I never take breaks during the normal work day. So what I’ve done in the past to make up for that is I’ve taken that idea to an extreme one year, actually, for my 50th birthday, I took an entire month off of work, and I sat by a pool in Mexico, just reading books, drawing, eating seafood and drinking tequila, not bourbon.

Laura

7:00
Not bourbon?

Nikki

7:02
Well, when in Rome, or Mazatlan…

Laura

7:05
That sounds pretty awesome. But not everyone can necessarily afford to take a whole month off of work.

Nikki

7:10
Well, that’s absolutely true. And I wouldn’t have been able to do that myself if I hadn’t had a very generous friend with a house down there. And the fact that I work for myself and could plan ahead for that.

Laura

7:23
Okay, can this friend become my friend?

Nikki

7:25
I’m sure that could be arranged. But anyway, the point is, we all need breaks, whether they’re a month long ones, or just 15 minutes in a workday.

Laura

7:36
Very true. And it’s truly a healthy thing to take breaks.

Nikki

7:40
It really is. So we’ve been producing this weekly podcast now for over a year and a half. We’re up to, this is our 86th episode.

Laura

7:49
Wow.

Nikki

7:49
And we absolutely love it. And we have so many new ideas and plans for the future of Startist Society.

Laura

7:56
It’s definitely one of our favorite things to do. But it’s also a lot of work on top of our full time jobs, and the current crazy transitioning lives that we have. So we want to lead by example. And we’re going to take a fall break.

Nikki

8:10
In order to be our most creative selves and continue to bring you the content that we hear that you love, we’re taking a brief sabbatical to do some rest and creative thinking and planning so that we can come back all refreshed and excited to share all our new content with you.

Laura

8:26
And in the meantime, there are 85 other juicy episodes for you to listen to, as well as 20 free PDF tips and resource guides on our website, startistsociety.com, for you to download.

Nikki

8:39
During our break, we’ll be sharing a few roundups of favorite interviews, technique episodes, mindset episodes, etc. So be sure to get on our email list so you don’t miss these helpful guides. You can sign up on any page of our website at startistsociety.com. And if you love what we’re doing here and want to help us out in a small way, there are several options for you to do so.

Laura

9:01
So first off, you can leave us a five star rating and review. Reviews help us reach more Startists like you. Number two, you can share your favorite episodes with a friend.

Nikki

9:12
Or two.

Laura

9:15
Or three, you can buy us a coffee,

Nikki

9:19
Uh, bourbon,

Laura

9:20
Sorry, you can buy a suburban, using the little icon on the bottom left of our website.

Nikki

9:27
For links to the resources we mentioned and to read today’s Startist Society shownotes go to startistsociety.com/takingbreaks.

Laura

9:36
Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you all rested after our break.