Balancing yourself: Do more in less time!

All work and no play make Jake a dull boy!  This cliche term holds a lot of value for me and I often catch myself falling into the trap of an unbalanced life!  Lately I have been working my brains out and incorporating play less.  This is a classic trap that people fall into....Especially me.  Because we actually work much more efficiently when we have a balanced life!  I have a friend Kyle who is extremely good at balancing life.  He goes waterskiing once a month and has been doing so for 48 months in a row!  He also is an avid hunter and fisherman.  Sometimes I am baffled by the amount of play he gets done in a month... However, he is a very successful and busy guy who works like a horse and gets things done!  I admire his ability to work and play hard!  

I have noticed that the more time I put towards church activities, helping people, and taking time for myself to recreate, the more efficient I am.  There is a lot to be said about the efficiency one gains by taking time off.  An old study on memory and brain activity may have some application here:  Subjects were given a list of random syllables to memorize.  One group was to go through the list 60 times in one sitting and memorize as much as possible.  The other group was told to go over the list a total of 38 times but to spread it over the course of a couple of days. The end result was that those who had reviewed the list only 38 times could recall much more than those who had gone over it 60 times!  Maybe we are more efficient in spurts sometimes rather than in long hours!  Just some food for thought.

Does anyone have any feelings on this?  I would be interested to hear of any experiences or applications anyone has experienced.. please post!