+1: #645 Boundaries or Burnout

In our last +1, we talked about how the Peak Performance guys recommend we craft our optimal work-to-rest ratio. Pop quiz: You recall the ratio? Pop answer: 50 to 90 minutes ON. 7 to 20 minutes OFF. Making nice rhythmic waves… (More importantly: You practice it yesterday?) Today, as promised, I want to talk about the importance of creating boundaries lest we teeter into the realm of burnout and/or never leave the realm of sub-awesome performance. First, let's talk about the boundaries required to get into true, 100% ON mode. Guess what… All that multi-tasking? Flitting back and forth from one thing to another? That's NOT awesome. (Cap'n Obvious here with a friendly public service announcement.) We need to create bright-line boundaries and focus on ONE Thing—the most important thing—if we want to have a shot at operating in our upper threshold of productive performance. We all know that. (Right?) Yet… Do you still paper cut your attention and never really go deep because you're too busy multitasking? Well, as the Peak Performance guys put it: "For 99 percent of us, effective multitasking is nothing more than effective delusional thinking." So, to be ALL IN ON, we need to eliminate distractions and truly go ALL IN for our 50 to 90 minutes of peak performance work. Got it. Then what? Then we need to truly recover during that 7 to 20 minutes OFF phase. Go for a walk, meditate, take a nap. (If you're a nut like me, go throw some spears in your backyard.) But, whatever you do, don't go online and read the news and/or catch up on your social feeds or anything else that's going to blow up your brain (and nervous system and neurotransmitters) and not offer you a true recovery period. Again, boundaries. 100% On. 100% Off. Repeat. But only if you like sustainable peak performance. Remember: Boundaries or burnout. Oh! And this is even more important at the end of the day. Remember our chat about "Shut-down complete!"? Well, that's a really good boundary to make sure you properly recover via some epic sleep while also ensuring some solid Deep Love time. Boundaries = Awesome.