During this busy Christmas, end-of-year, season, when everyone’s running around like chickens with their heads cut off, it’s counterintuitive to slow down, let alone take a break. “There’s too much to do! I have reviews to fill out, projects to finish before the deadline, events to plan, setting strategic goals, year-end meetings…” And that’s just people’s jobs. Add in their personal/home lives full of hustle and bustle of buying, parties, kids’ performances, etc., and it’s no wonder taking a break feels like it would do more damage than good with all the demands on their time.

So, in corporate-language terms, it’s “heads down”—focused, intense, uninterrupted work from now until… Until when? The demands may let up in the new year, but they may not. Once companies, organizations, and individuals get used to adrenaline-rush achievement mode, there’s no slowing down or stopping. Until the crash comes. The one where people’s bodies and minds let their protest be heard through illness. The one where productivity drops and even ceases because we can only think or do so much for so long.

That’s why we need the other kind of heads-down—on our pillows, desks, anywhere that we can get some rest!

Contrary to our fears, when we do the resting kind of heads down, our productivity actually increases.  It rejuvenates our minds and bodies so we can concentrate clearly, then get more done in a shorter time and more effective way. Plus, we’ll be more patient with others, not so easily upset or frustrated by their shortcomings, and have more resilience—meaning better relationships and teamwork— everywhere, including with our own families.

Many cultures have discovered this and take mid-day naps. For example, in China, where we lived for some time, it’s lights-out in the office and everyone puts their heads down, literally, at their desks, for an hour. Many asked me how we Americans stay productive without resting during the day!

Scripture also reminds us that “It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.” Ps. 127:2

Nails aren’t driven in by keeping the hammer on the nail and trying to push it in. They’re driven in by swinging the hammer back (not forever) and giving the nail another pounding.

Consider, for example, studying for an exam. Conventional “wisdom” says to “cram” for a test. Regardless of how much you did or didn’t study before, the idea is to “pull an all-nighter” to get all those facts, figures, and concepts in your mind to answer the next day’s exam questions. Maybe you get them in there, maybe not. My guess is probably not, since after a while your brain is too tired to concentrate. Never mind the high-caffeine coffee and “power” drinks to stay awake. All they do is push our brains into adrenaline-rush mode, meaning a surge of adrenaline to our amygdala—the “fight or flight mode”. That means nothing left in the pre-frontal cortex—the thinking/reasoning part of our brains, which means we can’t think straight, make wise decisions, or handle things well. So, while the rush may help temporarily to keep us going, what’s the use if we can’t really process properly and we forget what we learned? In other words, yes, study to get it in there. But also get enough sleep to process everything and get it out the next day on the exam!

The same applies to preparing a presentation for work, school, or any organization. Or completing a project. “Heads down” to concentrate, and heads-down to rest. That rest will build not only concentration, retention, and retrieval of what’s in our brains, it will also build resilience. Let’s face it, public speaking, exams, problem solving, working with people who don’t always cooperate well, even creativity, can cause a lot of stress. If that stress overcomes us, we’ll fail. To keep things from pushing us over and burying us underneath them with overwhelm, we need resilience. We get on top of them instead of them on top of us by getting enough rest to strengthen ourselves to withstand the onslaught. Rather than snap and get snappy, let’s “snap out of it” by being well-rested enough to think properly.

This works. It did for me all through every level of school, and it worked for my kids (who admittedly were skeptical at first but tried it with great results). I even went on weekend retreats sometimes in college, and when I came back, the books, assignments, and projects that awaited, not only didn’t overwhelm me, I got everything done faster and better, and more than made up for being gone. “Lost time” became found time!

So while we’re “pounding away” at our work and “gotta-get-it-done”s, here’s a heads-up—put your head down, and it will all get done.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Mat. 11:28