The Importance of Resting (and Why We Avoid It)

When you're busy, there's nothing more difficult than getting good rest. 

Carving out the time to wind down is hard enough - but actually relaxing when the clock is ticking and there's so much to do? Even trying to chill out can feel like a waste of time; one that may even leave you feeling more stressed than before you slowed down. If you struggle to slow down, you might feel overwhelmed by guilt and frustration when trying (unsuccessfully) to rest; not only are you failing to make progress on your to-do list, but you're also failing to relax enough to recharge your batteries 😵‍💫

Don't overthink it: Rest is good for you.

Whether you're taking breaks, switching into maintenance mode at work, napping, sleeping at night - or even sitting down for a simple meal, resting is proven to provide a wide range of benefits to health, focus, and overall wellbeing.

When stress levels are high, sometimes you need to get crappy rest before you can refresh your brain completely with deep rest. In this article, review the benefits of resting - and the most common reasons why you avoid it (even when you know you need it).

The Benefits Of Resting

If you've ever had a late night at work (or on a Zoom call) and found yourself wide-awake long after the sun has set, struggling to come down from it, you know first hand that resting isn't just about not working.

Resting is a process that your body goes through to recover and integrate new information. In the form of sleep, resting is essential for physical, psychological, and emotional health. Other forms of rest, including sleep, help to complete the stress response cycle, and regulate hormones that influence your mental energy.

Here are a few other benefits of resting:

• Physical recovery: Resting allows the body to recover and restore after exercise¹

• Injury prevention: Rest reduces the risk of physical injury and improves overall performance¹

• Boosts brain function: Rest improves cognitive function, memory consolidation, and decision-making²

• Resets your stress response cycle: Resting can complete the cycle that triggers your fight, flight, fawn or freeze response, winding you down from a heightened state of alertness.

• Strengthens the immune system: Resting supports a healthy immune system and helps the body fight off illnesses and infections³

• Balances cravings: Resting regulates hormones that control appetite, aiding in weight management⁴

• Improves mood: Rest reduces irritability, regulates mood and decreases feelings of anxiety⁵

 Most Common Reasons Why We Avoid Rest

You're probably thinking: I know rest is important! I just can't wind down when I need to. What's wrong with me?

It's a common theme. Despite knowing the importance of rest and its many benefits, many people avoid winding down like the plague. But why? Here are a few common reasons why you might be avoiding rest:

• Excessive Light Exposure: In both the form of natural sunlight and artifical blue light emitted by screens, excessive light exposure can significantly disrupt your body’s natural circadian rhythm - leading to difficulties winding down throughout the day and getting to sleep at night. Getting lots of sunlight during late hours can delay the onset of melatonin production, the hormone responsible for regulating sleep. Similarly, blue light from screens inhibits melatonin secretion more effectively than other wavelengths, tricking the brain into thinking it’s still daytime after a long scrolling session on your phone. Over time, this disruption can lead to chronic sleep deprivation, contributing to a host of health issues, including impaired cognitive function, mood disorders, and a weakened immune system.

• Caregiving responsibilities: When you are the primary caregiver for children, elderly relatives, or even pets, your own needs often take a back seat. The 24/7 demands of caregiving can make taking a break feel like a luxury. You might worry about neglecting your duties, feel selfish for wanting to, or even experience judgment from others for prioritizing your own needs. Even when you do find time to rest, the need to be constantly available for others can lead to endless interruptions that make rest pretty stressful.

• Digital addiction: In 2017, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced that the company's #1 competitor was sleep.⁶ Whether you're binging on the latest Netflix series, checking emails, social media, or news feeds - or just staring into the abyss of your screen - unplugging can literally feel impossible. Staying in this constant cycle of engagement not only disrupts your ability to rest but also alters your perception of urgency and importance, making every notification feel like a demand for your immediate attention.

• Productivity guilt: "Productivity guilt" is what happens when you internalize the myth that equates productivity and self-worth. If you find yourself measuring your value by how much you accomplish, you might struggle with guilt when you try to relax. You might associate relaxation with being unproductive and worry relentlessly that breaking your momentum will lead to procrastination. Productivity guilt can lead you to justify your need to take breaks (hint: no justification is needed besides your aching butt) or force yourself to "earn" them only when you’ve reached a certain threshold of productivity.

• Social pressure: In communities that glorify hustle culture, being constantly busy is worn as a badge of honor and rest is often sold as a luxury vacation. This culture essentially rejects rest as laziness or wasted time, forcing those who question the constant business to defend their work ethic. If you're in an environment where there's social pressure to always be "on", you might feel uncomfortable relaxing in front of others or taking time to yourself to unwind.

• Intrusive thoughts: If you have anxiety, you know all too well that quiet moments can ironically amplify stress and make you dread relaxation. When you slow down, your mind might start racing, filling the emptiness with a flood of worries and worst-case scenarios. This relentless mental activity turns what should be a restful experience into a time of heightened alertness and discomfort, steering you away from the very relaxation you need to manage your anxiety effectively.

Understanding these barriers to rest is the first step in overcoming them. By acknowledging the pressures and internal dialogues that keep you from resting, you can begin to challenge them and make space for the restorative breaks that keep you balanced.

Tips for Getting Better Rest

Getting better rest isn’t just about spending more time sleeping; it’s about enhancing the quality of the rest you get throughout the day. By scheduling out your week, balancing high-energy activities with low-effort, and getting to know the types of rest that you enjoy most, you'll prepare your body and mind for needed downtime while ensuring that your active hours are more productive and fulfilling. By thoughtfully incorporating rest into your daily routine, you can stave off exhaustion and enhance your overall well-being.

1. Get On A Sleep Schedule

Consistency is key when it comes to sleep. By going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, you condition your body to expect rest at specific times, which can significantly improve the quality of your sleep - and help you fall asleep more quickly. This consistency helps to regulate your body’s internal clock, leading to more efficient sleep cycles. If your sleep schedule is all over the place, it may be a sign that you need for downtime during the day. Use time-blocking to plan restful breaks into your day, and give yourself a generous 9 hour window to sleep until you get into a rhythm, then make gradual adjustments from there. This technique can help you create mornings that set a positive tone for the day ahead.

2. Slow Down

Transitioning directly from high-energy activities to rest can make it difficult for your mind and body to settle down. Easing into rest during the day with quieter activities like reading, cuddling, or gentle yoga can signal to your nervous system that it’s time to wind down. Slowing things down before bed time can also make it easier to fall (and stay) asleep. Try to avoid high intensity exercise right before bed to create a buffer between the day’s stresses and a night of restful sleep.

3. Work With Your Ups and Downs 

Aligning your daily activities with your natural energy levels can drastically improve how rested you feel. Get to know your body’s circadian and infradian rhythms, so you can schedule tasks that require alertness during your peak energy times and reserve lower-energy tasks for when you naturally dip. Focusing on managing your energy instead of your time prevents burnout by boosting self-awareness and how you spend your energy.

4. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness can be defined as awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. It is essentially any technique that trains your attention in this way, including meditation, body scanning, and mindful yoga. Mindfulness is proven scientifically to reduce stress by creating natural pause around your daily activities when practiced regularly. People who practice mindfulness often feel that it eases transitions throughout your day; including the shift from activity to rest. 

5. Experiment with Deep Rest

Curious about your subconscious? Deep rest has answers. Exploring guided forms of rest such as yoga nidra, dreamwork, or visualization can offer profound insight into your subconscious beyond typical sleep. These practices can help you understand nightmares and sleep disturbances through prompted exploration by an experienced guide; the result is often a deep sense of mind-body rejuvenation. Exploring these techniques can give you a transformative understanding of how your mind works and guide you toward peaceful, deep rest.

• Sources

  1.Fullagar, Hugh H. K., Sabrina Skorski, Rob Duffield, Daniel Hammes, Aaron J. Coutts, and Tim Meyer. “Sleep and Athletic Performance: The Effects of Sleep Loss on Exercise Performance, and Physiological and Cognitive Responses to Exercise.” Sports Medicine 45, no. 2 (October 15, 2014): 161–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-014-0260-0.

  2.Walker, Matthew P. “The Role of Sleep in Cognition and Emotion.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1156, no. 1 (March 1, 2009): 168–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04416.x.

  3. Besedovsky, Luciana, Tanja Lange, and Jan Born. “Sleep and Immune Function.” Pflügers Archiv Für Die Gesamte Physiologie Des Menschen Und Der Tiere/Pflügers Archiv 463, no. 1 (November 10, 2011): 121–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-011-1044-0.

  4. Spiegel, Karine, Rachel Leproult, and Eve Van Cauter. “Impact of Sleep Debt on Metabolic and Endocrine Function.” Lancet 354, no. 9188 (October 1, 1999): 1435–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(99)01376-8.

  5. Sleep Medicine. “Sleep and Mood,” n.d. https://sleep.hms.harvard.edu/education-training/public-education/sleep-and-health-education-program/sleep-health-education-87.

  6. Raphael, Rina. “Netflix CEO Reed Hastings: Sleep Is Our Competition.” Fast Company, November 6, 2017. Accessed June 3, 2024. https://www.fastcompany.com/40491939/netflix-ceo-reed-hastings-sleep-is-our-competition.