Brian Tracy (speaker) recommends adopting a Sabbath-style rest period to improve work–life balance and reduce stress. He describes taking a 36-hour break (two nights and one full day) during which one avoids work and technology (no computer, BlackBerry, iPhone), sleeps, relaxes, and spends time with family; Tracy reports this increases energy and productivity when returning to work.
If you're like me, you're probably a hard worker. And what I found, when I speak to lots of people, they say it's easier to work than not to work. When you're an entrepreneur or a business owner, every day is a potential work day. So I found something that changed my life. And it's what the Jewish people call a Sabbath. And a Sabbath in the Jewish tradition starts at 6 o' clock on Friday and ends at 6am on Sunday. So there's 36 hours and two nights sleep, which time they don't do anything. And what affected me was the idea that anybody can have a Sabbath. And if you start to do this, it will change your life. And what I do now is I usually Friday night to Sunday morning or I'll do it from Saturday evening till Monday morning. But you get 36 hours, two full nights where you sleep in and one full day where you do nothing at all. And you go to movies, you relax, you read, no computer, no BlackBerry, no iPhone, no work at all. The first time you do this, you'll be like a drug addict because you have this desperate need to want to do something. But you have to discipline yourself to do absolutely nothing. It's work related for 36 hours. If you can do that, you'll have so much more energy. When you work so much, you'll be so much brighter, you'll get so much more done that you won't have missed the time at all. And you have lots of time for yourself and your family.
