An Invitation To Embrace A Rest-Forward Life
What if rest wasn’t a reward, but instead a priority?
In this short blog I invite you to embrace a rest-forward approach to life. It is commonplace nowadays to marginalise rest as the reward for a productivity. We squeeze rest into the edges of our days as the last thing on our list of priorities or stigmatise it as being inherently weak or not a good use of our time.
How could our lives improve if we turn those thoughts around and adopt a rest-forward approach in our lives? What might happen if we make rest the starting point for a productive life and not the end?
Avoiding Running On Empty
For me the rest-forward concept is an invitation to make feeling rested and not exhausted our default setting. It’s about ongoing replenishment and not waiting until our tank is running on empty.
And, important though sleep is, remember that rest is not only about getting a good night here and there.
Maintaining optimal balance in our nervous systems and feeling truly connected in yourself and with others requires intentional rest, which is best woven consistently throughout our days and nights.
If we can prioritise rest, we can unlock the full potential of our creativity and clarity.
Making decisions, giving energy and time to people around us and maintaining a genuine positive outlook become very challenging when we are fatigued or feeling the effects of ongoing stress. Our pool of mental and physical resources is not limitless, but we expect to be able to just keep going.
The Fuel We Need
Consider the way that athletes – whether amateur or elite – will approach their nutrition ahead of an event, to maximise their performance. If this is something that interests you, I’d highly recommend a listen to Dr Stacy Sims on the @hubermanlab podcast where Dr Sims talks about tailored exercise and nutrition strategies for all ages and stages of life.
Nutrition is only one part of the fuel we need to accomplish our full potential. We also need rest. High quality, intentional, regular rest. We need to rest-forward.
There are countless everyday activities we do to replenish and help life run smoothly such as refuelling or recharging your car, getting your children’s school bags ready the night before, saving up to go on a trip, eating well before a sports event. These are all ways we think and act forwards.
The truth is that rest rarely makes the list of things to do today. Or most days. We push it aside to wait for the holiday or weekend. Let’s put it first.
Rest Is Responsible
By adopting a rest-forward mindset, you’re not stepping away from your responsibilities or ambitions or productive time. Rather, you are investing in creating a more sustainable version of yourself, one where you can feel fresh, focused, have the capacity to care for others and creativity can thrive. All in all, the best version of yourself.
Thinking about rest positively is not a new or novel idea, yet I see and hear us perpetuating the busyness myth and turning away from rest.
So, let’s turn that around and embrace a rest-forward approach in our lives. Even within the structure confines of a corporate work environment, it has been shown that taking breaks and pausing throughout the day actually helps boost performance and improve well-being. Harvard Business Review has published hosts of articles based on studies which confirm this.
The evidence is compelling and over the coming weeks I invite you to explore the ways that you can rest-forward and prioritise rest in a way that is reasonable and realistic for you. Even small actions can result in felt benefits. Some thought starters:
- Introduce a micro dose of morning mindfulness into your day with a few deep breaths or a short meditation before your daily routine begins.
- Stretch between tasks or different events in your day.
- Put down your phone and log off from your emails for the evening. Many of the world’s most forward-thinking organisations discourage employees from staying tuned in to work noise after hours. Studies repeatedly tell us that a more balanced approach has a positive outcome for productivity.
- Be mindful of the thinking patterns that erroneously inform us that rest is a waste of time, or a “guilty pleasure”.
Don’t let rest languish as an afterthought in your life. Turn that thought around and embrace a more manageable, more fulfilling rest-forward life.
