[#18] The Ancient Productivity Hack Nobody Talks About
Dec 28, 2025
It's 28th December. That weird bit between Christmas and New Year where nobody really knows what day it is. It’s Sunday if you need that reminder.
And honestly? That's kind of the point of today's newsletter.
The World's Oldest Business Advice
Thousands of years ago, a command was given. Not a suggestion. A command.
Rest one day in every seven.
The idea of a Sabbath wasn't invented by wellness influencers or productivity gurus. It was built into creation itself. Hardwired into how humans were designed to function.
Here's what's interesting though.
The secular world has spent decades rediscovering this through trial and error…
- Weekend laws about closing shops and bars
- Working time regulations
- The entire "burnout" conversation
- Mental health days
- Corporate wellness programmes
Science keeps validating what Scripture commanded thousands of years ago from the Bible.
We're not machines. We need rhythmic rest to function.
The Irony
I know many Christians that ignore the Sabbath principle while the business world is slowly waking up to its wisdom.
As business owners we've bought into the hustle. The grind. The "I'll sleep when I'm dead" nonsense.
Meanwhile, research shows that rest is NOT the opposite of productivity. It's the foundation of it.
The cult of complexity treats rest as weakness. Margin as laziness. Pausing as falling behind.
The reality check we need to have though is that you can't pour from an empty cup. As a human being you weren't designed to run at full speed, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year.
That's not ambition. That's just bad engineering.
This summer, I felt this more than ever. The hustle of the switch up in my own business almost got me to the point of burn out. I was exhausted from the hustle. I kept saying in my head, “it’s only for short while” but in the end my body started to tell me to slow down and to stop.
The drive I had, the ambition that was pushing me on, it was the lies of the hustle movement coming in and taking root in my life. I had to stop and reorientate myself back to my Simple Life foundations – Simple Business, Simple Marketing, Simple Lifestyle, Simple Faith.
Why My Simple Life Philosophy?
Think about what the hustle culture actually creates…
More tools. More systems. More complexity.
And what do we get from following this way of doing business? We are all exhausted, running faster on a treadmill that goes nowhere.
The SIMPLIFY message isn't just about cutting tools or reducing funnels. It's about creating space. Margin is not weakness. It's wisdom.
The most radical business strategy you could adopt in 2026 might not be adding another funnel. Or trying another platform. Or chasing another metric.
It might just be protecting one day per month or where you do... absolutely nothing.
It might be the times you set aside to connect with your Creator.
It might also be found in the way you switch off and unplug.
Will you choose the Simple Life? To cut out the hustle culture from your life? To say no to the cult of complexity?
A Thought For The New Year
As you think about 2026, I urge you to protect space for less.
Not because it's trendy.
Because it's how you're made.
Before you write your New Year goals, ask yourself these questions…
What am I going to protect? What margin am I going to build in?
A business that requires every hour of your week isn't a business. It's a prison.
There is a way to build a business that serves you and your lifestyle, giving you back the freedom you dreamed of before you started it. Finding alignment between your calling and your life is how you discover the path forward. And you need space to get there.
Space in your schedule. Space in your head. Space in your marketing and sales. Space in your life.
With this space you can explore the messages that connect, the offers that resonate and then build on those that click with your people.
You don’t need a huge-ass funnel! You don’t need a million offers.
Show up in the space ordained for you, as the person you were supposed to be and ignore the hustle message from the world around you.
SIMPLIFY.
My word of 2026.
Is it yours?
If 2025 felt like a blur of activity without progress, that's not a sign you need to work harder. It is a sign that your business model needs simplifying - something to think about before you make those New Year plans.
