If You Don’t Snooze, You Lose … Ideas
Published on August 5, 2017, at 11:16 a.m.
by Brie Carter.
Summer used to be filled with relaxation, but now we are all down to business. Oftentimes, PR professionals use summer for catching up on soft news leads or preparing for the upcoming year. However, society tells us to go, go, go. Never stop; there’s no time for sleep. I beg to differ.
The Sleep Foundation says people have forgotten what being fully rested feels like. How much sleep a person gets can indicate how good their overall well-being is. People need to allow time for both sleep and waking rest. Waking rest can be accomplished by sitting in silence and letting your thoughts stay present.
I’ve realized that we carry this “on to the next thing” mentality in the PR practice. Your job’s slow period may or may not be in the summer. Regardless, it’s important to utilize that down time when it’s there. Time is money, yes, but isn’t rest the body’s strongest weapon?
I could easily paint you a picture of you getting a massage with a background sound of a stream running, but you don’t have time for that. So here are the cold hard facts.
“Sleep helps enhance your learning and problem-solving skills. [It] also helps you pay attention, make decisions, and be creative,” the National Institutes of Health states.
So, the more sleep you get the more creative you are. We all know that in public relations a strong creative piece grabs the attention of the target audience. Contrary to what your boss may think, waking rest is also productive.
As a student, when I find that my creative juices have come to a halt, I take it to the bed, literally. I first try to let the pressure of having a blank mind leave me by sleep. The next day I commence my waking rest, surprisingly or not, by exercise. As long as my mind isn’t directly on my PR task at hand, I find that my ideas start running faster than I literally have been.
Granted there is a time and place for everything. Whether you use the excuse of summer time or your company’s slow period, stop what you’re doing and be more efficient by taking a nap. Listen to the thoughts that haven’t had a chance to come out yet. You might be on to something.
