Want to Win? Try Relaxing

My previous boss told me I was among the best consultants he’d ever worked with.

This came as a bit of a surprise to me. I wasn’t the smartest person he worked with, nor was I the hardest working, nor was I the most efficient.

But I had one competitive advantage in the most unlikely of places: I knew how to relax. I was calm and consequently more enjoyable to work with. Who would you want to work with: someone annoying but the best or someone fun who is “only” second-best?

There are other ways to win besides being the best. I’m tired of overachievers telling people to hack their sleep, time management, and emails. There are other things we can do with our time.

Relaxing works, and there are a few simple steps you can take to improve the quality of your life—while improving your odds of winning at the same time.

Not relaxing isn’t enjoyable

Pursuing productivity is typically counter-productive. The phenomenon is well-known in sports—it’s called “choking.” Players that try too hard to win get tense and can’t perform. Forcefully pursuing success leads to more errors and ultimately failure. As a Tao proverb goes, keep sharpening your knife, and it will surely blunt.

Relaxing works

You can succeed by knowing how to relax. What can relaxation do for you?

Provide a competitive advantage

Although the ancient swamis and mystics might cringe to hear this, practicing yoga on a regular basis gives you a competitive advantage, whether your arena is in the business world or on the playing field.

—Dr. Dean Ornish (from Program for Reversing Heart Disease)

Improve efficiency and work quality

It’s our universal experience here that much more can be accomplished in the practice of law if we are doing it in a thoughtful and quiet manner rather than in a frantic manner.

—David Pfalzgraf, a partner at the firm (from ABC News)

Improve concentration

We found that meditation was the only intervention that immediately led to superior performance, even though none of the volunteers were experienced at meditation. Every single student who meditated showed improvement.

—Bruce O’Hara, Associate Professor at University of Kentucky (from recent research)

Improve athletic performance

The presence of the mind in coordinated activity with the body can allow the mind to be calm instead of racing. Instinct and reflex become natural parts of the action. Often you can get in your own way when you are trying to play well. When you are in this meditative space you naturally play at your highest potential.

—Phil Jackson, basketball coaching legend (from Conscious Choice)

How to relax

There are advanced relaxation techniques like deep breathing, stretching, meditation, and massage. I’m learning a lot about these methods, and I’ll discuss them in upcoming articles.

But you don’t need them to get started. There are many basic ways to improve. Here are some methods I used while consulting:

  • Getting a full night’s rest (8 hours for me)
  • Exercising 30 minutes a day
  • Taking 5 minute breaks every hour
  • Reading a book
  • Playing chess
  • Eating an apple
  • Going outside for fresh air

These tips will not only help you produce better work, but you’ll also experience a higher quality of life.

If I suspected I would be interrupted, I would often go outside the building without my cell phone. I don’t think my employer initially approved, but I knew it was the only way that I could achieve high quality work. Once I convinced superiors of this, they never bothered me.

No one should make you feel guilty for taking care of your body and mind.

A caution about some relaxing tips

In researching this article, I came across Tim Ferriss’s article “Relax like a Pro: 5 Steps to Hacking Your Sleep.” While I agree with the premise to improve sleep, I do not agree with his approach and recommendations. You judge for yourself.

His first tip involves creating a bed-time snack that “tastes like a mixture of cat urine and asparagus.” His second tip is using ice-baths to provoke sleep and feels like “getting hit with an elephant tranquilizer.”

Ferriss is essentially proposing a “no pain, no gain” attitude for relaxing. Why should relaxing be painful? I suspect there are alternative methods to the same benefits, and I’ve never felt the need to do these things to enjoy sleep. I can’t imagine my ancestors thousands of years ago needing it either.

Don’t get caught up in strange, unnatural relaxing tips. There are relaxing ways to relax.

You can relax by doing something as simple as lying in the grass on a nice sunny day. And it will make you better at work.

Relaxing in Grass

(Yes, I practice what I preach)

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  1. 16 Responses to “Want to Win? Try Relaxing”

  2. (Cross posted at BC)

    While I think you make an interesting point, I think part of the challenge is that there are a lot of people who don’t know how to “just relax”.

    Many people are conditioned from a very young age to always be busy. Looking at a lot of families these days, with children in multiple sports, music lessons, language lessons, and myriad other extracurricular activities, the idea of just relaxing and taking time to yourself is foreign to many.

    Thus, I see it as some people need these tips to start showing them the light at the end of the tunnel. They need the tips to finally get a handle on that crazed inbox, or never having enough time to even think about planning, let alone relaxing. Once they start to make that progress, then there is the perception that relaxing might now be something you can do. When you have an overflowing inbox and don’t have enough hours in the day, taking some time to relax doesn’t seem possible.

    Where I will agree, though, is that some people then take things too far. They become productivity junkies, where improving productivity basically becomes another method of procrastination

    By Adam @ LiveWorkBalance on Apr 28, 2008

  3. Adam @LiveWorkBalance: Per your statement:

    “I think part of the challenge is that there are a lot of people who don’t know how to “just relax”.”

    Think about how crazy we are that we don’t even know how to relax any more!

    I agree with you that tips are important. I see a bigger issue that many people do know what’s relaxing but they feel guilty about doing them. Asking a boss to sleep for 8 hours has become less acceptable then excusing yourself to do yoga. Isn’t that strange?

    By Presh Talwalkar on Apr 28, 2008

  4. As a fellow economics/math major who will be working at an economic consulting firm starting this summer, this was a nice read :)

    By John on Apr 28, 2008

  5. John: Thanks for the comment. If you would like some more strategies about economic consulting “off-the record” feel free to email me ;) presh@mindyourdecisions.com

    By Presh Talwalkar on Apr 28, 2008

  6. Perfect timing for this post. I have been getting agitated working on a project that is long overdue, and it has resulted in a lot of time wasted with little to show.

    I am going for a run now. I think that will put me in a more productive mood.

    By Mike on Apr 28, 2008

  7. Mike: I take this as a big compliment. As I’ve learned from investing, it’s often better to be well-timed than right. I suspect running will improve your work, and if it doesn’t it will increase your life quality, so you can’t lose :)

    By Presh Talwalkar on Apr 28, 2008

  8. Great post, Presh. Personally my thoughts towards work tend to consist of self-fulfilling prophesies of the following sort. If I am stressed and worried about finishing a project, I tend to think things like, “How will I ever get this done, it seems like too much.” And of course I end up wasting time. Alternately, when I think thoughts like, “It’s ok, I know it will get done. I don’t have to read 200 pages in the next hour.” then I actually get into a more focussed state and achieve much more. I also enjoy the time spent working too, instead of waiting for the next break (which is still a wise idea :) ). The power of a positive attitude is amazing!

    By Paul on Apr 28, 2008

  9. Paul: You provide an excellent example of how we work better when relaxed. I share the same experience and that’s why I couldn’t understand people that overworked and burned the midnight oil.

    What needs to be done is convince superiors that working less under less stress is better than grinding it out. In fact, I think I should start such a handbook of testimonials…

    By Presh Talwalkar on Apr 28, 2008

  10. Staying cool under pressure is going to be a significant competitive differentiator as we navigate our chaotic professional and personal lives. The industrial age ushered in the notion that when more time was spent on a process the more output you produced. But in the knowledge age that demands creativity it does not work well. Becauase knowledge is not a linear product that scales output with time input. There is a “hysteresis” curve that kicks in when output stagnates while input keeps increasing.

    I remember the week before the Iraq war started, I had all these things happen to me the same week.
    1.) Divorce
    2.) A sore throat
    3.) Getting laid off
    4.) An ice storm that trapped us in the house
    5.) Totaling my car
    6.) My ex packing her stuff at the same time.

    I just kept my cool and wrote a country music song instead of getting stressed out. Of course, I had four jobs ready to go was comforting.

    http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewpoetry.asp?AuthorID=44899&id=202596

    By Mahesh on Apr 28, 2008

  11. Mahesh: I’m sorry to hear those things happened to you so quickly, and I’m impressed that you found a creative outlet. That’s what I usually do when the world comes crashing down on me. Your song is nice.

    You also provide an excellent analysis, as always. I didn’t think about it, but you are exactly right: our economy depends on creativity, which is a non-linear product and cannot be forced. The best I have found to do is keep myself in the optimum mental state–through diet, exercise and sleep–and let randomness do its magic.

    By Presh Talwalkar on Apr 28, 2008

  12. Congrats are in order! You are well on your way to being a true leader (maybe you’re already there) I believe we can define the attributes of leadership from a business perceptive. I use them as my benchmarks as I learn to be a better leader. In order of importance, the attributes are as follows:
    Composed under Stress. Put another way, stability of the mind under pressure. When trouble rains down and the world as we know it ceases to exist, what better place to run for cover than the person who has the ability to remain calm as chaos erupts? This doesn’t mean the person doesn’t care or lacks a sense of urgency. It simply means he can keep his head on while others are losing theirs. This is a rare trait indeed. Edmund Burke said, “No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” That is being calm: that is, being relaxed at work. Michael L. Gooch, SPHR Author of Wingtips with Spurs: Cowboy Wisdom for Today’s Business Leaders. www.michaellgooch.com

    By Michael L. Gooch on Apr 29, 2008

  13. There’s a tradition in the Muslim world that goes back to the Prophet Muhammad of taking a short afternoon nap. I find it really helps keep me going later in the day.

    By Asad on Apr 29, 2008

  14. Michael L. Gooch: Thank you for the congratulations :) Composure under stress is extremely important, and you write about it very elegantly.

    Asad: I wish afternoon naps were more acceptable. My medical friends tell me about the benefits of an afternoon siesta. On the flip side, I’m not someone that likes to nap, partly because I get good rest. In America, we neither get to sleep at night nor in the afternoon. I think that goes a long way to explaining the Starbucks phenomenon.

    By Presh Talwalkar on Apr 29, 2008

  15. You mention that one of the big challenges is getting supervisors to recognize the value of de-stressed employees. It’s something that wasn’t intuitive to me either until earlier this month when I had to supervise an extremely nervous employee, and now I will never question it again. The guy I supervised was not only reducing his own productivity by allowing himself to be so stressed, but he was also reducing mine! His lack of efficiency made my job harder, and his tenseness rubbed off on me. (Needless to say, it didn’t work out.)

    I’ve found that since consulting usually allows me to work from anywhere at anytime, it is very tempting to do so. Your article has reminded me of some of the conversations that you and I used to have, and of the need to set boundaries. (By the way, your strategies for setting boundaries could be another post!) Hopefully an incommunicado week in Italy without my computer will be a good start in the for me in the realm of relaxation :)

    By Steph on Apr 29, 2008

  16. Steph:

    “The guy I supervised was not only reducing his own productivity by allowing himself to be so stressed, but he was also reducing mine!”

    I can see this happening. I think we all have been here!

    I wish I could say more about setting boundaries, but I admit my success was largely due to understanding managers. It didn’t work with type-A personalities since they didn’t seem to understand how relaxation would improve productivity (these are the “annoying” people I refer to in the article).

    Best wishes on your Italy trip, and I’m sure you’ll find ample opportunity to relax :)

    By Presh Talwalkar on Apr 30, 2008

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  2. Jul 11, 2008: The Happiest People Live Simple, Not Over-Scheduled, Lives : Brazen Careerist - A Career Center for Generation Y

    3. We ought to consider the path less traveled. Go simplify and relax. Sleep in, meditate, take a walk, or do whatever eases you. Who knows, you might even experience that relaxing provides a competitive advantage. …

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