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Give yourself 24 hours

William Liao
1 min readSep 16, 2021

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Everyone is susceptible to having challenging days:

Days where you feel emotionally overwhelmed.

Days where you feel undersupported.

Days where your confidence in yourself, or your work is called into question.

On days like these, when your defenses are down, it’s easy to find yourself ruminating in a land of counterproductive thoughts and worst-possible interpretations.

The next time you’re not feeling mentally well, resist the urge to push through. Anyone who has tried to continue working through intense feelings of frustration, worry, or some other distressing emotion will tell you that it’s not easy to do your best work when you’re feeling this way.

Instead, give yourself time — at least 24 hours. 24 hours to process, to rest, to let fumes evaporate, and to mentally and physically recuperate. Sometimes it’ll take more than that, though in many cases it’ll be just the thing you need.

To choose rest when you need it is both an act of kindness towards yourself and your team:

When you’re rested, the work can augment your sense of well-being instead of pulling away from it.

When you’re rested, you’re in an infinitely better position to make meaningful contributions to the work you’re trying to accomplish.

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William Liao
William Liao

Written by William Liao

Taiwanese American, daily blogger of ideas about impactful work in service of others, photographer (ephemera.photography)

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