The Importance of Rest

There is a time-honored folk story about a young woodsman and a seasoned lumberjack. The robust young woodsman energetically chopped at the towering oaks all day long, never stopping to rest. In contrast, the grizzled lumberjack worked a little, then sat down to rest, only to chop a bit more before taking another break. At the end of the day, the gray-bearded lumberjack had harvested twice as much lumber as the strapping young man. When the young woodsman asked him for his secret, the venerable old man replied, “Well, sonny, when I sat down, I took time to sharpen my axe.”

Most of us are like the young lumberjack. We find ourselves trapped on the freeway of rush. We have a texting mentality, a fast-food appetite, and an Instagram philosophy. Before we know it, perhaps even without wanting to, we find ourselves leaping into the commotion without really considering whether we have an option. Our minds are made static by noise – digital instruments bellowing, TVs babbling, cell phones chattering. Everywhere, all the time, voices call our names. All of us are busy, perhaps productive…and very tired.

We all sense that we were not made for the digital world of distractions, the fast-food kind of life we frenetically live. We know, innately, that rest and retreat renew vitality. Research backs that up. Studies have shown that rest has numerous benefits.

The body does best when short breaks are taken during the day. Those who take short breaks have a decrease in blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension compared to those who work steadily during the day. Small, frequent rest breaks decrease muscle aches, back pain, and gastric distress. Pushing away from the worktable every 90 minutes or so to stretch, get a drink of water, and take in deep breaths improves creativity and general overall health. Rest decreases the stress hormone, cortisone. Rest increases self-confidence, mental clarity, vitality, and creativity. Taking small breaks enhances work productivity and performance.

Here’s a tidbit that goes way back to the 19^th century when Charlee Schwab, President of Carnegie Steel, wanted to find out how to get the best effort out of his employees. Schwab discovered that men loading pig iron who rested for 34 seconds after working for 26 seconds was able to load 40 tons in an 8-hour shift. Regular crews who never rested loaded only 12 tons.

The overwork trap weaves its tangled web insidiously. We have so much to do we can’t finish it all. The harder we work, the more mistakes we make. The more mistakes we make, the harder we work. Because of the mistakes we make, the further behind we get. 

This frenetic activity can escalate to produce symptoms of burnout or overwork. Multiple physical complaints escalate. The unrested complain of headaches, back pain, and gastric disturbances. Paradoxically the overworked sleep poorly. Fragmented sleep increases fatigue, and escalates the stress merry-go-round resulting in irritability, apathy, depression, and anxiety.  Unrest leads to joyless striving and impairs relationship with friends, family, and associates.

Duke University psychiatrist, John Rhoads, MD, studied successful, effective, and healthy executives who worked at least sixty hours weekly and compared these individuals with executives who developed burnout from working over sixty hours weekly.

Dr. Rhodes identified several traits common to those successful executives. 

• The successful executives rested when tired and took small breaks during the day. 
• When they felt overwhelmed by the task rather than working harder, they took an unscheduled long weekend off. 
• They kept and enjoyed scheduled vacations. 
• They exercised regularly, avoided drugs and alcohol, and cultivated friendships. 
• Successful executives had a cosmic sense of humor—they recognized the absurdities in life and could laugh at their foibles and fumbles. 
• Instead of fighting against the current of a heavy workload, they went with the flow by resting frequently and knowing their limitations.

Rest comes when we recognize our limitations and seek variety and balance. We may be unable to change our environmental stressors, but we can adapt a more moderate response to those stresses by doing the best we can and learning to protect our time.

The following “rest tip” can help all of us live more productive, healthy, and happy lives:

• Rest before you get tired. Recognize signs of fatigue before you get frustrated. Take an afternoon or a long weekend away from work. When you return to work, you will be amazed at how much more you accomplish. 
• Alternate activities. Energy can be acquired by splitting the day into the smallest possible time segments. Break your work into small compartments, get something accomplished, and then go on to the next small compartment.
• Exercise. Most of us run out of energy because of mental fatigue. Physical exercise gets the overwork webs out of our brains and invigorates our thoughts.
• Reward yourself. To create energy, reward yourself every time you accomplish a task. Pat yourself on the back, take a short breather, go have some fun, give yourself a spell of pleasurable laziness.
• Build leisure into your lifestyle. Take regularly scheduled vacations. Plan a half day off occasionally. Properly scheduled recreation will increase productivity.
• Combat boredom. Boredom, the most significant energy drain, can be defeated by having variety in your life and work. Setting daily, weekly, and monthly goals can make work fun and help you feel satisfied when a task is accomplished.
• Laugh and enjoy yourself. Ask yourself, “Am I having fun yet?” If not, why not? Figure a way to bring fun to the workplace.

Whether it is chopping down trees, loading pig iron, or dealing with the pressures of the digital age, rest brings health, happiness, and increased productivity.