REST Against the Machine

03.09.24

A Short Take on the Serious Benefits of Scheduling Rest

Attention!!! High Flying Corporate types, Athletes, Parents, Average Joes, Counsellors with delusions of writing careers, well in fact everybody… read on, because, well, it works better that way, otherwise you’ve wasted a click frankly.

It’s no secret that intrinsic motivation is the key to long-lasting performance and a solid defence against burnout. But before you dive headfirst into another gruelling workout or marathon work session, take a moment to read this short and light-hearted exploration of why scheduling rest is not just a good idea—it’s essential!

Now, what exactly is intrinsic motivation, you ask? Simply put, it’s the reason I willingly drag myself through training sessions six days a week—I actually enjoy it! If I were only doing it for the external rewards, like racking up Instagram likes, I’d have thrown in the towel long ago.

Whether in the office, at the gym, or showing your kids how it’s done in the playground, the more your motivation comes from within, and the more you find fulfilment in the work itself—enjoying what you do for its own sake rather than for external recognition—the better off you’ll be. That said, being intrinsically motivated doesn’t make you invincible. Even if you love your work—or perhaps especially because you do—pushing yourself too hard without adequate rest and recovery will ultimately lead to burnout.

One of the pitfalls of intrinsic motivation is that you don’t need external prompts to get moving. No one has to nudge you to pick up that overtime, into the gym, push you to work harder, or dangle incentives in front of you. In fact, the real issue can be quite the opposite. Enthusiasts, (yes, I’m talking to you, CrossFit enthusiasts), can become victims of their own passion. 

Without someone—like my ever-patient wife—occasionally applying the brakes with a timely, “When’s your next rest day again?!” you might very well drive yourself into the ground. When you’re passionate and eager to improve, the instinct is to keep pushing. But no matter how well-intentioned, your body will eventually tire. Too many miles with too little rest leads to what exercise scientists call overtraining syndrome—a drop in performance, accompanied by an increase in illness, injury, and eventually, apathy. This is no different if you are putting in the hours due to your work being a passion project, or because you want to be all things to all people for your family.

Though an overworked brain may not physically break down like an overworked body, it still needs rest to function at its best. A constantly stimulated mind struggles to produce original ideas. How often have you been on a break when, suddenly, the solution to a problem pops into your head the moment you relax? In today’s fast-paced world, boredom is nearly extinct—thanks to our devices, we can stave it off with a single tap. Unless, of course, you deliberately carve out time to do nothing, to daydream, to enjoy a cup of tea while watching a squirrel tear through the fading sunflower heads in the garden—rather like me with a packet of dry roasted nuts.

From years of working with high achievers in therapy, a common theme emerges: those with a strong work ethic often identify or figure out that they need to intentionally schedule breaks and rest days. If left to chance, they simply won’t happen because they’re too caught up in the cycle of 'Human Doing' rather than 'Human Being'. This doesn’t mean you need to spend hours in meditation (though that can be beneficial to some). It could be anything from drawing or writing to walking or spending time in nature. The point is that more isn’t always more. 

And now, a nod to the Jedi Master of good mental health—SLEEP. During sleep, your brain retains, consolidates, stores, and connects information. In other words, your mind doesn’t grow and make leaps while you’re working, but rather when you’re resting. That’s when the cluttered desk of your thoughts gets neatly organised, allowing you to retrieve information quickly and efficiently.

MAKING TIME for sleep, rest and breaks, is something you can intentionally work on improving if you decide to. I’m very aware that we don’t all have the same 24hours, despite what that 21 year old life coach keeps shouting at us on Instagram. So it’s about being smart with what we have if that’s the case, and that might just mean planning and scheduling things rather than flogging yourself – thinking of rest as ‘recharging’, might change your view of it from a passive, even lazy endeavour to a productive one, if you must mind game yourself into it!!!

Is it worth a try? Once you see the benefit of literally giving yourself a break, you’ll be more likely to prioritise it. You’ll be able to tell yourself you are actively improving and allowing ideas, solutions or recouperation and recovery to take place, reframing stopping now and again into a necessary pause that is just part of the process. 

This isn’t to say you should spend your days lounging around eating Pot Noodles, (unless everything is done and you want to!!!) but even when you’re deeply engaged in work you love, getting the basics down of a full night’s sleep, regular exercise, and a few short breaks throughout the day, will help you break up stressors, refresh yourself and maybe even come up with some good stuff. 

Trust that rest and recovery is an integral part of doing good, sustainable work, not separate from the work—they are a crucial part of it.

So permission for a cuppa and a good ol' stare into space is granted in 3.2.1

GO!!!