I Relax, Therefore I am

Two Latin concepts to help you enjoy deep work sessions (while avoiding burnout or becoming an overworked machine): Otium & Afflatus

1. Otium 🏖️

When most of us hear the word leisure—we think of lounging around & wasting time.⁣ But this definition is drastically misleading. Leisure historically meant freedom for creative and intellectual pursuits.⁣

In Greek, leisure is rendered as scholé—this means school 🏛️

The Romans had a similar word for this in Latin—otium—referring to leisure time in which a person can enjoy playing, contemplation, but also the pursuit of academic interests.

Many of history’s highest achievers were aware of the value of rest.

Jesus used to go fishing with his disciples 🎣

Cato loved to sip wine 🍷 and reflect on the meaning of life.⁣

Benjamin Franklin’s work sessions were broken up by periods of conversation and reading.

2. Afflatus 🔮

Knowledge workers are programmed to dream about achieving 23 tasks every week.

There’s a relentless pursuit of optimization.

Evan Amstrong describes why this kind of thinking didn’t serve him well.

He writes: “Self-improvement is great and productivity is wonderful, but something about this vein of thought feels off. When I try to follow this advice, I may temporarily get more stuff done, but it comes at the expense of my soul.”

In order to get inspired, you need to give yourself space—to think, meditate, read old books, write, paint, or take (long) walks & naps.

“My success has happened,” Evan adds, “because I’ve given myself space to ignore all the extra things I’m supposed to do so I can pursue something called afflatus—a Latin word that refers to a sudden rush or inspiration, seemingly from the divine or supernatural.”

He makes his stance clear: “I’m not advocating for a lifestyle of ease and no work. There are always late nights and sacrifices. What I’m arguing for is the cultivation of a state of being to allow for afflatus to occur.”

Work as hard as you can. But make sure to relax, rest, and meditate with the same intensity. Productivity is for robots 🤖 Creative work is 80% leisure and 20% (intense) effort.