Relax, Strategically That is

Social Workers or not, we all tend to run ourselves ragged, and as many a research publication or news article discusses this may be our down fall physically, mentally, emotionally, and career wise. Earlier this month, the New York Times published an article on just this phenomenon, with a specific focus on the importance of relaxation, or as they termed it Strategic Renewal. The article can be summed up by the below paragraph:

“More and more of us find ourselves unable to juggle overwhelming demands and maintain a seemingly unsustainable pace. Paradoxically, the best way to get more done may be to spend more time doing less. A new and growing body of multidisciplinary research shows that strategic renewal — including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations — boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.”

Feel free to read on for more in depth discussion of the above. It is well worth the read, and is full of research findings and relaxation tidbits. The best part is that is doesn’t emphasize eliminating things from our life as some relaxation work does, but instead suggests listing to our bodies desire to relax in a strategic manner, thus working  with our body to maximize our potential to complete the things we desire and to feel better along the way.

By Georgianna Reilly, LMSW
SJS Staff Writer