We live in a society that glorifies being busy. Perhaps you’ve found that this preference for ‘doing’ over ‘being’ has rubbed off onto you over the years and begun to seep into your daily behaviours? While both are equally important for a happy, productive, and full life, the strong pull of doing and achieving is something that’s becoming more evident in society and it’s taking a toll on the physical and mental health of many of us.

The Role of Rest in Productivity

If you’ve ever faced burnout or brain fog, you’ve experienced firsthand the important role that rest or ‘being’ plays in your overall ability to be productive, tick off your to-do’s and meet all of your responsibilities that come with a busy and demanding life. Despite deep down knowing that rest is essential for creating a sustainable and manageable lifestyle where you don’t spread yourself too thin, you still might find it hard to allow yourself to slow down and carve out some much-needed self-care into your schedule. This is likely because the importance of the Rest x Productivity relationship isn’t openly acknowledged, so many of us experience rest resistance, myself included, whereby we feel guilty for stopping because we are concerned that we will be seen as lazy. Let me emphasise that if you feel yourself grappling with feelings of guilt and struggling to give yourself permission to slow down, that this is not your fault. It’s likely that you’ve never been encouraged or given permission to slow down in this fast-paced environment, so it’s hard to grant yourself that permission. 

You Do Not Need to Earn Rest

I wish I received the following advice earlier in life, so I want to share it with you now. Please know this: You do not need to earn rest. It is there for you to claim. If only rest was favoured equally to output. Think about how much more you could get done! Consider how much happier and less stressed you’d be if you were well rested? Or the added clarity you’d experience for making better decisions? When we’re stressed or tired, one of the first things to be impacted is our ability to be creative and come up with new and unique ideas because the body and mind don’t see it as being vital for our survival. Just think of how much easier it is to be creative and feel inspired when you’ve taken time out to rest and recharge.

Since doing or achieving requires you to make time for rest, I’d go as far as to say that sometimes the most productive thing you can do is rest. A simple example is our need for sleep each night in order to allow our mind and body to recharge for another day. Mother Nature leads by example too. Twice a year, with the changes is season, she provides us with a gentle reminder of this. For this reason, one of my favourite sayings is, ‘Nothing in nature blooms all year round.’ 

The Importance of Slowing Down

A lot of people spend a large part of their life in an over-adrenalized state, feeling wired and tired. If I’m being honest, I was one of those people. Slowing down, for a day, a week, or even just for an hour a day, can be particularly confronting because it requires you to stop running and to feel into your body. It requires you to face life honestly and show up for yourself, not for others. I’ve had to learn the hard way just how important work-life balance is.’ Up until my mid-late twenties, my self-worth was very much tied to my achievements, so when I wasn’t achieving, I felt less worthy. This is something I’ve had to work through, to get to a place where I can give myself permission to rest and honour my needs without feeling guilty. If you notice yourself feeling as though you always need to be doing, achieving, earning, or moving on to the next goal, remember that your self-worth is not tied to your achievements. You are enough exactly as you are. You deserve to freely take rest, whenever you need, in whatever form that looks like. 

You’re a human being, not a human doing

When you find yourself faced with this inner conflict between listening to the wisdom of your body and it’s need for rest vs. listening to your head and feeling compelled to work in order to prove your worth, remember that you are a human being, not a human doing. Even your phone needs a little time to recharge each day so it can work optimally. Notice whether you are placing unrealistic expectations on yourself and whether there’s an opportunity to practice self-compassion.

You can’t pour from an empty cup

When you take time to care for yourself, you aren’t just doing yourself a favour, you are also doing those around you a favour. One of my favourite sayings is, ‘You can’t pour from an empty cup.’ I’ve even had this saying displayed on my vision board for as long as I can remember. Reminding yourself of these words on a daily basis will help you to take care of yourself and prioritise your own needs before anything else. Self-care is quite literally how we take care of ourselves and ensure that we don’t burn out. Most importantly, the benefits of self-care are widespread and lead to improved mental and physical wellbeing. When you practice self-care, you are acknowledging your need for rest, play and inspiration. You are tuning in and gently listening to your body. When you take time for yourself and build a regular self-care practice into your busy lifestyle, you are nurturing and nourishing your mind, body, and spirit, so that you can show up as your best self in this life. 

Letting go of the guilt

Taking time for rest is not the same as being lazy. There’s still so much guilt attached to resting. If you know that you need to take time off and rest, whether that means temporarily saying no to social commitments or family gatherings, so that you can focus on healing and getting your energy back, then you deserve to take that necessary pause without feeling guilty. You don’t need to justify your needs. Feeling guilty for putting yourself first will only deplete your energy further. There’s no use sitting at home in your pyjamas with a calming cup of tea while trying to take it easy, if you’re expelling so much energy caring what other people think and whether you’ll be perceived as lazy, flaky, or uninterested. It’s counterproductive. Besides, true friends and loved ones should care enough to support you when you need to put your own needs first.

Technology as a barrier to rest

Another reason why you might be finding it hard to embrace a state of ‘non doing’ is because technology is eating into your precious quiet time and turning every opportunity to switch off, into a chance to catch up on what everyone else is doing online. It has become harder to allow our minds to switch off because we are living in a hyperconnected and overstimulated world. Maybe, like most of us, you take your phone wherever you go? Or perhaps you keep your phone out of reach but the constant chiming of notifications elicits anxiety and facilitates the all too commonly experienced compulsive checking behaviour? Technology is taking up a lot of the space that we otherwise would use for resting and slowing down. Nowadays, if you so choose to, you can have a constant flow of information and be mentally stimulated 24/7! The result? Burnout. This is because when you allow yourself to always be ‘on’, you are giving more and more of your mental energy away. 

Tuning into your body

You might notice that you have your own tell-tale sign for when you start to feel over stimulated or mentally wired from technology. Perhaps your breathing becomes shallower, and you find it hard to take a full inhale, almost like there’s a tightening in your upper rib cage? Some people notice they become more easily irritated or short-fused. Others find it hard to stay focused and concentrate on one task at a time. This can certainly be the case when spending so much time consuming short form content. Try tuning into your body and noticing what sensations arise when you start to feel overstimulated. Your body communicates in incredible ways, signalling different messages and letting you know what it needs to return to a state of calm. Developing greater mind-body awareness will also help you to make changes earlier on, so you can start to feel better. 

If you feel the effects of living in a hyperconnected and overstimulated world, you might also like to consider setting some healthier technology boundaries so that you can create more space in your day.

Here are three strategies you can try:

1. Create phone-free zones in your home such as the bedroom and dining room.

2. Take a technology detox and turn your phone off for an afternoon or even a couple of days.

3. Pick one day a week to take a social media sabbath and commit to staying off social media for a full 24-hour period.

Building time for rest into your daily schedule, whether it’s reading a book and enjoying a cup of tea, going for a mindful walk in the park, taking a thirty-minute nap, enjoying a creative hobby such as painting, or listening to a mini meditation, will ultimately help you to feel more calm, focused, energised, and happy.

Consider what are three things in your life that would change if you were well rested? Ask yourself, how might your relationships, career, wellbeing, creativity, mood, or mental health improve if you gave yourself permission to integrate more rest into your days, weeks, and year? 

With love,

Jess