The last habit from [[Book Summaries/The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey|7 Habits]]. TL;DR: make time for intentional self-renewal. Just as a dull saw requires more effort and time to cut wood, neglecting self-care and personal growth can lead to decreased effectiveness and burnout. Notice that self-care doesn't mean self-indulgence here. It means active renewal. It can happen on the personal realm and on the professional realm. Some examples of sharpening the saw: * Physical (work out) * Spiritual (meditate, pray) * Mental (read, hobbies, learning) - Social (“service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth”) Covey introduces the [[P vs PC|Production vs Production Capacity (P vs PC)]] framework, and sharpening your saw is the equivalent of investing in PC. Concretely, Covey talks about "Daily Private Victory", which is the idea of dedicating time each day to personal renewal. This advice is later echoed by every self-help guru, like the 1% improvement each day by James Clear, or the 5AM club by Robin Sharma. I like the saw analogy better than [[Put your oxygen mask]], because it talks about active renewal and less about indulgent self care. #published 2025-02-16