057: How to Relax Even If Your To-Do List Isn’t Complete

Have you ever sat down to finally enjoy your favorite beverage and a good book and suddenly… your mind floods with all the unfinished things on your to-do list? My high achievers know what I’m talking about! It can be so difficult to relax and rest when we’re so hyper aware of the looming tasks ahead. We often overwork ourselves so we can “actually enjoy” our break, which creates a vicious cycle of burnout and mandatory rest, AKA your body demands rest by getting sick. In this episode, I’m sharing some of the tactical steps and mindset tips I’ve used to settle down so I can be intentional about rest and relaxation.

Resources mentioned:

• Listen to Episode 56: You Can Still Experience Burnout Doing What You Love
• Send me a DM over on Instagram to learn more about my 12-week coaching program!

Some key takeaways on the to-do list that’s holding you back from relaxation:

• Try to distinguish between what you think needs to get done versus what actually needs to get done. We are so conditioned to produce, execute, and accomplish that we forget there should be time in our schedule to just be.
• Perfectionism can make us think that something needs to be done by us to be done correctly. Take a look at your to-do list and honestly ask yourself if someone else can do some of the things on that list. As long as it gets done, does it matter if it’s the most perfect execution of the task?
• If you’re struggling with “earning” your rest, take the time to acknowledge everything you have gotten done, all that you’ve accomplished, and remind yourself that whatever end goal you’re working towards doesn’t have to be achieved for you to take time to rest.

Welcome to the Wake Up Call Podcast with Alicia Hopkins (that’s me!). My goal in this podcast is to share valuable and actionable tips on what I call the “Core Four” - mindfulness, movement, habits, and growth - so you can build a life that feels true to you. I will be interviewing people who have had a “wake up call” that their good-on-paper life wasn’t lighting them up, and what they did to change that. Join us every week for a new episode of the Wake Up Call Podcast with Alicia Hopkins!

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