A balanced schedule supports your productivity, creative abilities, and strategic thinking skills. We’ve often been tempted to stay late on the job. “What’s a couple more hours or one more item crossed off our to-do list?” we may ask. When this familiar urge surfaces, we choose to leave our office at a decent hour anyway. That last item on our list can wait until the morning. We’ll complete it faster with a fresh mind and approach, anyway.

We’re dedicated to maintaining a balanced schedule because activities such as spending time with our families or going to the gym directly benefit our workmanship—they don’t limit work productivity, they enhance it.

Maintaining a satisfying personal life will help you remain alert, energized, and in good spirits while conducting business. It will also enable you to step outside the work bubble and approach challenges from new angles. Your thinking and ideas simply won’t be fresh or innovative if you stare at a computer screen for ten hours straight. Human beings weren’t built to function in that way. You’re not a machine; don’t treat yourself like one. Commit to incorporating rest, relaxation, and creative play into your daily schedule—it’s a long-term investment that offers substantial returns.

This article is an excerpt from the book “The Whiteboard: Go from Blank Canvas to a Productive, Leveraged, & Highly-Profitable Business” by Chris Haddon and Jason Balin. Please click here to see more.