Image by Emma Osborne via @emm.ann.
Feeling guilty about resting is one of the most irrational emotions we experience. And yet, despite all we know about the importance of sleep and self-care, the hustle culture we live in has us convinced that if we are not converting everything we do into income, we will never become ‘successful’.
Why it is important to rest
It should go without saying that working while unwell or without giving yourself time to rest is associated with decreased physical and mental health – emotional exhaustion, increased risk of depression and burnout.
Working in this way has been compared to ‘not working at all’ fairly consistently. Research suggests that, in some cases, the productivity and performance lost by attempting to complete tasks while fatigued can actually be worse than that lost when taking a break.
On top of this, studies conducted over time have found that when people ignore recovery, they will be robbed of the choice, and eventually be incapable of completing work all together anyway!
The real devil is not rest, but procrastination
I hope I am in my right to say that it might not actually be the rest you feel guilty about, but the procrastination. Rest is boring. Of course, we would rather be distracted if we already feel guilty about not getting work done. And why should we not? When we have so many platforms of entertainment at our disposal!
It is extremely difficult to pull ourselves away from the devices and the screens we hold so close to our hearts every day (literally). And it is a given that is extremely easy to lose ourselves in them. 5 minutes turns into 30, 30 minutes turns into one hour, one hour turns into three, and now your brain is all used up, you might as well just try again tomorrow.
I know you know you need rest, so how do we do it?
How to rest
There is no hack, there is no easy way. You will not stop procrastinating and you will never not need rest.
So how can we turn this procrastination into something we won’t hate ourselves for. First things first, and I cannot stress this enough, put your phone down. Put it in a cupboard, in a draw, in the other room, get it away and get it out of sight. If you do not have the capacity to complete work, your brain does not have the capacity to take in information from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Not to mention that this ‘information’ is typically drawn from people whose lives we mistakenly believe to be superior to our own.
This is not rest. Though it may feel easier, your neurons are still firing at ridiculous speeds and your dopamine levels are fluctuating. Put the phone down.
Then and only then – you can truly rest, let your brain settle down, look and listen to the world around you, pay attention to your senses. You may feel restless, this is normal. Breathe. Be bored.
Productive procrastination
Now, if you have the energy but you still cannot bring yourself to do work, hopefully, the energy you regain from not being on your phone can go towards something more purposeful. Read a book, if you struggle with this, try a documentary, watch to an educational video on YouTube, listen to a podcast. Do this from a desktop if you can so you do not need to go on your phone. If you can’t, delete the distracting apps and only keep the useful ones. These activities may not be the work you need to do but at least at the end of the day you can say “I learnt something today”
If you feel like you cannot take in any information at all, go for a walk. If going for a run or exercising comes easy for you, even better. But simply going for a walk has a plethora of research supporting its impacts on productivity, creativity, stress, and of course health.
I understand this may not work for everyone, but have a think about what you are capable of, perhaps you have a hobby or a side project you can put some work into so you can tell yourself “I created something today”
Progress is inevitable
If all else fails, remember, progress is inevitable. If you get absolutely nothing done today, you can tell yourself “I got through today” that is all that can genuinely be asked of us in this world. Tomorrow is another day.
Another day older, more experienced than we were 24 hours ago, wiser than we were a week ago, more ambitious than we were a month ago, and having accomplished more than we could have ever imagined a year ago.
As always, I hope you can take something from this. If you have any comments or queries pop them down below or dm me. Blogs at yOur Struggles are uploaded weekly, be sure to follow to be notified of the next one.
