Every fourth week inside the Focus Room, we take what I call a Cool-Off Week. It’s a week that looks a little different from our regular sprints. Instead of pushing for new projects or optimizations, we take a step back, slow down, and let things run at maintenance level.
This time, I want to share a new perspective on why these breaks are so important—through the lens of agriculture.
What Farming Teaches Us About Productivity
During my grad school, I went down a rabbit hole learning about soil health and food production. Our soil is being depleted year after year, and unless things change dramatically, we may not have fertile soil left in 50 years.
One of the key lessons from agriculture is that you can’t grow the same crop in the same field year after year. For example, corn takes specific nutrients from the soil. If you keep planting corn repeatedly, those nutrients disappear, and the soil becomes barren.
The solution? Crop rotation. Different crops use and replenish different nutrients, keeping the soil balanced and healthy.
But there’s a second, equally important principle: letting the fields rest. Farmers sometimes leave a field fallow for a season, allowing the land to recover fully. In the UK, this practice has even become part of agricultural policy—farmers are compensated for letting fields rest because governments now realize how critical soil health is for the future (according to my favourite Amazon Prime show – The Clarkson’s Farm).
And here’s the connection: if our fields need rest to stay productive, so do we.
The Productivity Trap: Always Doing More
In our culture, there’s an obsession with constant productivity. New projects, new launches, new goals—without pause. But the truth is, when we never rest, our focus drops, creativity declines, and exhaustion sets in.
Eventually, life will force us to stop—through burnout, sickness, or accidents. And when that happens, the downtime isn’t optional; it’s mandatory.
That’s why I prefer to build rest into my schedule before it’s forced on me. A predictable rhythm of effort and pause allows me to plan around it—and keeps me in control.
What a Cool-Off Week Looks Like
Let me be clear: a cool-off week is not a vacation on a Mojito island every fourth week. You still show up for your job, your clients, your family. You still answer emails, send quotes, attend meetings.
But what you don’t do is add anything new.
- No launching new projects.
- No brainstorming big ideas.
- No optimizing or pushing for growth.
Instead, you keep things at maintenance level. The essentials get done, but you give yourself margin and mental space. You go for longer walks, allow more spontaneity, and stop racing against the clock.
Think of it as working at B minus level. And here’s the secret: your mental B minus is probably a solid B in real life.
Rest as a Strategy
Cool-off weeks aren’t indulgent—they’re strategic. Just as fallow fields ensure strong future harvests, regular breaks ensure sustainable productivity and creativity.
The rhythm of sprint + rest keeps you from running into the brick wall of burnout. It also helps you approach your work with renewed energy, instead of dragging yourself through tasks on an empty tank.
Final Thought
Healthy soil produces good crops. A healthy mind produces good work.
If you don’t proactively schedule rest, life will do it for you—and usually at the most inconvenient time. A cool-off week is your chance to recover on your own terms, in a predictable, sustainable way.
So here’s my invitation: treat your own productivity like a farm. Rotate, rest, and protect your soil. Optimize for longevity of your fields. Think about life-time yield of your farm vs. short-term crop yield.
Build the Practice
The best farmers know that good harvests come from rotating crops and letting fields rest. Productivity works the same way. In the Focus Room, we follow this natural rhythm—focused sprints followed by cool-off weeks—so you can grow without depleting yourself.
🌾 Join the Focus Room and start cultivating a sustainable pace that lets your best ideas take root and thrive.
