Little Luxuries: Sunday Chill Out

If you're anything like me, you'll always have a "to-do" list on the go. The items on my list vary in significance from "take laundry out of the washing machine" to "work out how to build a global business empire" - on the same sheet of paper.

To-do lists are great for organising your life and prioritising your day to day activities, keeping you on track to achieve your goals (even if that goal is just to change your bed sheets!) but the down side is that you have a constant reminder of what you should be doing. And the problem with always knowing what you should be doing is that when you're not doing it you can't really relax, even if you're taking a few moments out to watch The Real Housewives of Wherever [insert your own guilty pleasure here].

With this in mind I've taken to adding those "moments out" to my to-do list - scheduling my down time so that I can make the most of it and not be worrying that something else is getting bumped off my list so I can enjoy a latte in front of The Millionaire Matchmaker (what can I say? If Bravo makes it - I'll watch it...).

I know it's a cliché, but we all do have busy lives and we often do not build enough time into those lives to recuperate and ensure that we have enough energy to do the things that we have to do. Top athletes know the benefits of what they call Quality Recovery Time (QRT) - because they push their bodies to the limit they need to give themselves a chance to recover so that they can help to prevent injury and fatigue in order that when they get back to training or competing they are at their peak physical condition (this revelation was brought to me by Jack Black - no, not that one - on one of his Mindstore courses, which I thoroughly recommend if you're interested in personal development).

Actually, despite my comments above, watching TV is probably not the best way to get your QRT - there's a reason why "a change is as good as a rest" is a saying, and doing anything which brings you pleasure and breaks you out of your normal routine will help to re-energise you. When top athletes are resting, they don't flop in front of the couch - a runner may and go play golf or a racing driver might play tennis - they do things that stimulate them in a way that their day "job" doesn't.

So, as it's Sunday, I'm going to recommend that you pull out your to-do list and add to it something that you can do for yourself today which is a break from the norm: bake a cake; go for a run; ring a friend with whom you haven't caught up with in a while; read a novel - hell, write a novel. Whatever it is make sure that you give yourself enough time to get as much enjoyment as possible out of it - the laundry can wait and when you head back to work tomorrow you will feel the benefit.

I'd love to hear how you spend your down time - let me know below. Enjoy your Sunday!!