Tony Schwartz, the founder, and CEO of Energy Project has conducted tremendous research and training with high performing people. He is one of the leading authorities on productivity. Check out what he wrote in a New York Times article:

“More and more of us find ourselves unable to juggle overwhelming demands and maintain a seemingly unsustainable pace. Paradoxically, the best way to get more done may be to spend more time doing less. A new and growing body of multidisciplinary research shows that strategic renewal — including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations — boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.”

What Schwartz knows is simply an ancient lesson that the Bible teaches us. In fact, God practiced this concept from the very beginning in Genesis after the creation of the world. Look at what Jesus did after His creative work…

Genesis 2:1-3 (NIV)

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Even God rested on the seventh day after He completed His tasks. Even God rests. So what makes you think you shouldn’t or can’t? Don’t buy into the myth that successful living requires you never to stop and rest. The truth is, successful living requires you to stop and rest. Always outputting and never inputting leads to burnout. Don’t run yourself so close to the redline of overheating that you internally combust. Your spiritual energy tank must constantly be filled, or you’ll run out of gas.

Here are 4 ways to manage your spiritual energy:

1) Get Selfish

I know it sounds bad…but it’s really not if you do it in a healthy way. You have to take time for yourself, or you’ll never be fully productive. Most people feel guilty about doing something for themselves. They feel they must always be doing, doing, doing in order to be productive. But you can get so busy doing stuff that you lose yourself in it. If you don’t take time to refresh you’ll never be at your best. Release the guilt that you must always be working. This is a myth anyway. If you study some of the most successful people, they have vast amounts of margin in their time to recover and replenish their energy.

2) Get Scheduling

If you are going to be successful, you have to create opportunities to be mentally and physically prepared for the tasks in front of you. Living with no margin to keep yourself healthy will eventually burn you out. Always filling your schedule with more and more is unhealthy. We all know this, but we all don’t practice it very well. In order to have rest and peace, you have to know what to release. Your problem may not be that you are undisciplined, it may be that it is impossible for a human to organize everything you have going on. The secret to success is knowing what to release. For everything you add to your schedule, there should be something you are subtracting from it as well.

3) Get Silly

I know get silly sounds…well…silly. But it’s a true statement that laughter increases your quality of life. Numerous studies have discovered that happy people live much healthier lives. It makes sense that as followers of Christ, we should have the most reasons to laugh and experience joy. We should be the most joyous people in all the world. Taking yourself too seriously can wear you down over time. Mathematics and logic philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein said, “If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.” Don’t get so focused on doing that you miss just being. Live with joy and you’ll live successfully.

4) Get Serving

How can serving replenish your energy you ask? Great question…the truth is as we serve others it serves our energy tank. Psychology experts call this “helpers high.” But it is all rooted in the spiritual principle that what we make happen for others God makes happen for us. When you step out and serve from your heart, it will replenish your energy. There is a reciprocation process that happens when we help others–it helps us. If you want to fill your spiritual energy tank, don’t miss the vital component of lifting others up. It’s kind of like working out…the more you work out the, more energy you get as a result. It sounds counterproductive, but in reality, it is exactly what helps us. Just make sure you balance serving and being selfish (in a healthy Godly way, not the negative, greedy, selfish way).

Check out these other resources that will help you manage your spiritual energy as well…