A man walking in the woods came across a woodcutter straining to saw down a tree.
He could see how much work the woodcutter was putting in and knowing a thing or two about woodcutting himself suggested the man take a break.
“You look shattered! How long have you been doing that? You should stop for a few minutes and sharpen your saw.”
The woodcutter glared at him.
"I've been sawing for five hours and have to get this finished. I don't have time to take a break!"
As gently as he could, the man suggested:
“If you sharpen the saw, you'd be able to cut the tree down much faster.”
The woodcutter exploded.
“I don’t have time to sharpen the saw. Don’t you see I’m too busy!”
I love this story that Stephen R Covey shares in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Many of us work ourselves to our absolute limits trying to get work done, but don't realise how ineffective we're being.
If you take a break and meditate for 20 minutes, you won't be 20 minutes behind, rather you'll be in a much better state to see how the work should best be done.
In life you rarely get points for how much work you've put in. It's all about the results you produce. The more rested version of you with greater access to your full mental capabilities will produce far better results than the frazzled version of you that gritted their teeth and pushed on through.