I am a person who likes to be busy, so I genuinely struggle with the idea of downtime. I enjoy it, but I always feel like I am wasting time if I am not doing something productive. There is always one more thing I could be doing, rather than just taking time to switch off and rest up.

Enter the idea of Productive Rest. While this is not a new concept to many, I was first introduced to it in a meaningful way by Arnold Schwazenegger in his book ‘Be Useful’ (which I thoroughly enjoyed!). Here the idea is that Rest is Productive, and not simply taking a break from being productive and not doing anything. 

The most obvious benefit of rest is that when you are rested and charged you have more energy. Having more energy allows your mind to be sharp and for you to be able to work better simply because you have more resources to dedicate to the task at hand. One of my rules is that when something is taking me far longer than it should then it is time to walk away because the problem is probably that I am too tired to think it through clearly. Similarly, I know for myself I am most productive in the morning so I try to take on challenging tasks then.

During times of rest, not only do we get energy back, but we also free up our minds to work on different problems in the background. This allows new connections and new creativity to flow since it allows your mind to float and wander. Studies on our brains while sleeping have shown that our brains are incredibly active as we rest, taking short term experiences and learning and storing them to create lasting connections and understandings.

Some of the activities for productive rest can be different for different people. For some, rest is more mental and emotional so going for a walk or exercising can constitute that type of rest. Others may find their rest when they connect with others socially while others may prefer solitude. Myself, I enjoy things like crossword puzzles or games that help me to engage mentally in other ways than work. One caution when choosing activities is that the use of devices like scrolling through your phone or watching tv may actually be an exercise in dissociation more than true rest, which can leave you feeling more drained than before you engage in it. 

Whatever the activity is, it can be worth paying attention to your mental state as you engage in it and afterward to find which activities work best for you. I have struggled at times to think of how I want to put together a blog post when I sit down at my computer, yet, later the same day when I am walking with my dog and suddenly feel like there are ideas that just come to me (I have learned to jot down some of these ideas when they happen so I can pick them up later). 

Changing your relationship with rest helps to reframe it. Productive rest is the idea that you are taking time to recharge and reorient so you can come back stronger than before. In order for a muscle to get stronger, you exercise it to the point of failure, where it weakens but grows back stronger. This is not possible without adding rest to your routine.