The second most important activity
In the book The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, the author Tony Schwartz starts off by talking about the difference between master violinists, good violinists, and your average group. It probably isn’t hard to guess the most important activity to becoming a great violinist – practice. The master group just loves to practice, and it happens more often.
What was fascinating was that it wasn’t an all-day, consuming activity. It was intense practice without interruption. And that kind of focused practice is draining, which means 90 minutes was the longest length of practice time and 4 hours was the limit for the day. After that level of activity, deep recovery was needed and the second most important activity was often a part of that – sleep. The masters took more naps and got better rest at night so that they were at their best during their work time.
Their 4 hours of hard practice was the equivalent of what many do with their 8-10 hour workday (long periods of unfocused, multitasking activity). Add to that the fact that many people do not get the rest they need at night, and start their day already unfocused and have a hard time catching up.
Because the number of hours we work is easy to measure, organizations often default to evaluating employees by the hours they put in at their desks, rather than by the focus they bring to their work or the value they produce. (7)
What if you decided that you weren’t just going to punch a clock and settle for mediocrity, whether it is with work, your family, or a hobby, but you would give that time your best and most focused effort? It may be exhausting, but the energy you gain from bringing something of value will more than make up for it. You might even sleep better at night.
So you’re saying that we should take naps at work right?