Lately, I’ve noticed that even when I take time off, I don’t actually rest. There’s this constant hum in the background—tasks I could be doing, goals I haven’t hit, that nagging feeling that I should be productive. And because of that, even my downtime feels… less restful? Like a phone that’s technically on “low power mode” but never actually charges.
So I decided to tackle this head-on by scheduling a half-day of doing absolutely nothing each week. Sounds simple, right? Except, very quickly, I found myself tidying up, answering emails, or scrolling mindlessly—basically sneaking productivity/ the day-to-day back in.
Then I had a flashback to my younger self, glued to a screen playing video games just for the fun of it. No work, no life optimization—just playing. And you know what? That was real switching off.
So now, I’ve added scheduled gaming time into my calendar. Not for a whole half-day (I don’t have that kind of screen-staring endurance anymore), but a solid hour of guilt-free immersion. No multitasking. No sneaky “just checking something.” Just play. And surprisingly? It works. I come back feeling genuinely refreshed.
How about you? Do you find it easy to actually switch off? Or does the productivity guilt get to you too? Leave a comment and let me know—I’d love to hear how you handle it.