From the course: The Sweet Spot: How to Accomplish More by Doing Less

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Stop overworking and start taking recess breaks

Stop overworking and start taking recess breaks

- [Narrator] My great grandparents grew olives, and my brother runs the olive processing company they started, so I've learned a lot about olives over the years. Olives are an alternate bearing crop, which means that they grow a lot of fruit one year, then mostly branches the following year, creating what is called a short crop. They produce less fruit one year in order to produce a large crop the next. We can all learn from the olive tree. In addition to being a symbol of peace, olives are also a metaphor for how rest and rejuvenation are essential to productivity. In today's hyper-busy world, most people don't rest or rejuvenate much. We don't allow ourselves the non-instrumental activities in life. Research does find that consistent and deliberate practice leads to elite performance, but focused work is not the same as unending work. Even Olympic athletes must train and rest, or they get hurt. Fruit trees forced to…

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