Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: The Day of Rest

1. Observe a Weekly Day of Pause

Dedicate a 24-25 hour period (e.g., Friday evening to Saturday evening) to completely stop, cease, and pause from weekday life, creating a distinct ‘sanctuary in time.’ This practice helps you get off the ’not enough’ train, hear your own voice, and allows ideas to flourish.

2. Make Your Pause Mandatory

Treat your designated day of rest as a mandatory obligation, not an optional choice. When a pause is optional, it’s easily discarded; making it non-negotiable ensures consistent observance and its associated benefits.

3. Rigorously Create a Separate Space

Actively ‘plug up every nook and cranny’ through which the secular or workday world can intrude, by avoiding electricity, screens, spending money, and rushing. This creates an entirely different texture of time, fostering presence and deep connection.

4. Eliminate Distractions to Connect

During your dedicated pause, actively shut off all external distractions like phones, TV, and screens. This allows you to be fully present with loved ones, listen differently, strengthen relationships, and combat loneliness.

5. Practice Non-Consumption

Use your day of pause to stop spending money, acquiring things, and striving to be something other than you are. This practice directly combats consumerism, fosters gratitude, and cultivates a mindset of being ’enough.’

6. Embrace Lack of Control

Consciously step away from trying to control, manage, or create everything during your pause. This shift in mindset helps fight the ‘control freak’ tendency, allowing you to feel yourself as a ‘creation’ and take a break from imposing your will on the world.

7. Use Pause for Self-Reflection

Leverage your time off to gain critical distance from your daily grind and examine your life choices, such as your job or relationships. This space allows ‘quieter voices’ to emerge, fostering self-awareness and personal growth.

8. Start with a Partial Pause

If a full 25-hour pause is not feasible, begin by carving out a shorter, rigorous period, such as Friday night for a few hours or Saturday morning until noon. The quality of the pause, making it feel truly different from the week, is more important than the quantity.

9. Reframe Pause as the Goal

Understand that the purpose of your pause is not to rejuvenate so you can work harder the other six days, but rather that the pause itself is the reward and the goal for working hard during the week. This prevents it from becoming just another productivity tool.

10. Engage in Simple Joys

Fill your pause time with simple, non-productive activities like reading a book, taking a walk with a friend, enjoying a meal with loved ones, napping, or simply observing your surroundings. These activities provide deep satisfaction and combat anxiety about free time.

11. Communicate Boundaries for Time Off

Clearly communicate your intention to take a dedicated pause to colleagues, setting expectations (e.g., ‘I’m not checking email, but call for emergencies’). This helps create space for self-care, even in demanding environments.

12. Challenge the ‘Not Enough’ Mindset

Recognize and actively question the consumerist ethic that tells you ‘you don’t have enough’ or ‘you are not enough,’ which fuels an endless cycle of working harder to acquire more. This awareness helps break free from a cycle that doesn’t lead to happiness.

13. Value Downtime and Relaxation

Shift your mindset to appreciate and not frown upon downtime or relaxation, both for yourself and others. Observing that successful individuals often incorporate relaxation suggests that constant work isn’t the sole path to achievement.