When It’s Time to Play

Good morning!

I hope this finds you well.

Welcome to another edition of The Matt Viera Newsletter.

The newsletter with the goal to inspire you to invest in life experiences.

Thank you for your continued support.

With the exception of one day, I was off from work all last week.

After I finished work on Tuesday, I hopped in my car and drove to pick up my RV.

By 9pm that night, everything was set up in one of my favorite off-grid locations.

Like most people with a rare stretch of free time, I had high hopes for what I’d accomplish, and I had a laundry list of personal projects to tackle.

Things I always say I’ll get to “when I have time.”

Well, I had the time last week…

But I didn’t get anything done.

Today, I am kicking myself for not effectively using my time away from work.

I felt unproductive and disappointed in my lack of discipline.

I even started planning how to “make up for lost time.”

But then I paused.

And I remembered the reason I went off-grid in the first place:

• I didn’t wake up to an alarm

• I didn’t have a set agenda for each day

• I even taught myself how to de-winterize my RV (saving myself about $200 in the process)

And best of all, some friends joined me for the weekend and camped right next to me.

While I didn’t check off a bunch of tasks off of my to-do list, here’s what I did do:

• I rested

• I laughed

• I spent time in nature, unplugged, and present

• I recharged in a way no productivity streak ever could have given me

And that’s the lesson I need to remember:

When it’s time to play, it’s time to play.

We can’t expect to be both deeply relaxed and highly productive at the same time.

If you’re constantly using time off to catch up, you’re not truly resting.

You’re simply shifting your work stress to a different to-do list.

No matter how ambitious or goal-oriented you are, that kind of hustle catches up with you.

That doesn’t mean personal projects aren’t important.

It just means we need to plan for them realistically.

If something is truly urgent, I’ve learned it’s better to get it done before your time off begins.

That way, when your break arrives, you can actually enjoy it.

Because here’s the truth:

Rest isn’t a luxury. It’s a requirement.

Rest is part of the whole point for those of us who invest in life outside the office—whether through mini-retirements, off-grid getaways, or cross-country road trips.

These aren’t just “breaks from work.”

They’re the moments that make life worth living.

So, if you’re like me (constantly trying to “make the most” of your time), don’t forget that sometimes the best use of your time is to let it unfold organically.

Slow. Easy. Unstructured.

Rest is not laziness.

Don’t think of it as a failure if you didn’t cross off every item on your to-do list when you’re on vacation or away from your office.

The next time you find yourself in the middle of time away from the office, feeling a little guilty for not being more productive, ask yourself this:

Am I doing what I actually need to be doing?

Because more often than not, what we need isn’t more work.

Quote that caught my attention:

“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.”

—Robert Orben

Grab your FREE copy of The Beginner’s Guide to Mini-Retirements by clicking here.

You can find the collection of financial tools & resources that helped me grow from a 6-figure debt to a 6-figure net worth by clicking here.

Thanks for reading!

Please feel free to reply to this email with suggestions, questions, or comments.

I read every email.

If you have a question about personal finance, travel, or mini-retirements, email me and ask and I’ll discuss the answer in a future article.

If you enjoy The Matt Viera Newsletter, please forward this email to one person you believe would enjoy reading this.

I’m ready to follow you on X (formerly known as Twitter)!

I definitely want to read past articles of The Matt Viera Newsletter!

I’m not a subscriber to The Matt Viera Newsletter and I’m ready to subscribe!