My friend Sarah Peck is a damn good writer.
She’s also in the midst of writing a book, and I’m proud to say that we’re represented by the same literary agency. (Bless those folks for having to wrangle the likes of us both!)
She said something the other day that I really wanted to share with you, because in a culture that’s all about the hustle, hustle, motherfucking hustle, I’m pretty sure that everyone thinks that if they’re not working constantly, they’re somehow not working hard enough. Have you felt the shame wash over you when you’ve gone to take a break? Eat a leisurely lunch? Take a day off? GO TO THE TOILET? I don’t know about you, but I want to be able to scroll my Instagram on the throne without feeling guilty for one single second about it.
Much of Sarah’s work explores what it means to work well, which doesn’t always translate to working productively. In fact, sometimes it means the opposite. Here’s what she wrote, recently, that strikes a chord:
“There have been entire seasons in my life where the focus of the quarter is getting the minimum done, sleeping a ton, and saying no to things. Life is full of stretches when we need to rest and recover.”
Usually, doing the bare minimum is something to be apologetic about—but what if it was the goal? What if doing the least amount of work possible, was actually an objective? And what if you were to consider re-wring the rules about what constituted a day well-spent?
Perhaps hustle is only honorable when you don’t have to give up the rest of your life in exchange.