Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking about slowing down. This is partly because the winter has encouraged hibernation, but also because I have been looking at managing my energy and priorities in a way that I choose. I’ve started to realize that rest and slowing down can be part of a strategy to maximize the resources I have.
The Myth of Constant Motion
I have always been an overachiever. During most of my adult life I have been involved in multiple volunteer positions as well as working, running a household and raising a child. I also, at one point, added 10 blog articles a week to that load. (I’m getting tired just recalling it).
Since my health crises in 2024, I have been forced to slow down. I simply didn’t have energy to do a lot of things, and so I became a jealous guardian of my energy. But things have crept back in. Even with a daily check in and very deliberate choices, I still found my life overfilled late last year.
Earlier me would have powered through. I would have kept going until all energy reserves were exhausted. But I can’t do that anymore.
I no longer have the reserves of energy I used to, and I found that after I rested, I was able to be much more creative and focused. Instead of powering through, taking a break got me beyond where I could have gone otherwise.
What Happens When You Don’t Rest
Resting is a natural part of the human needs. When I don’t rest my mind, my brain starts to get tired. And once that happens I start to get irritable and make poor decisions. When I don’t rest my body, I don’t have the energy to do the things I want.
That’s the basics of it.
But many of us have been conditioned to push through, keep moving, rub some dirt on it, and go.
A long time of that leads to burnout. I’ve dealt with burnout multiple times in my life. Burnout is not just being tired or overly busy. It’s when three factors surface concurrently in your life: exhaustion, cynicism and lack of productivity.
You can still be busy when you’re burnt out. It just means you’re truly not getting anywhere.
Redefining Rest
I was working with a physical therapy aide this past year to regain my energy and stamina, as well as range of motion. One of the things she would ask me when I would say I was tired was “mentally or physically?”
It turns out that rest for mental fatigue is different than the rest needed for physical fatigue.
Mental Rest
Mental rest doesn’t necessarily mean napping. I find that mental rest is achieved when I can switch my mind off for a bit. Things like meditation, percussion rudiments, tai chi, walking outside, coloring and word search puzzles are all restful for me.
Physical Rest
Physical rest doesn’t mean sitting for hours on end. If I am truly tired, then a micronap is in order. But I can also rest by doing light activities. This includes gentle walking, tai chi, Wii Fit (the old one). Even moving around the house putting things away is restful.
The Difference Between Active and Passive Rest
What these things that I find restful all have in common is that they are part of active rest. I can rest but still keep engaged and active.
Passive rest, on the other hand, involves lumping in front of the television.
There are times when passive rest is called for. But I found that the more I engaged in passive rest, the less energy I had overall.
Strategic Pauses
As part of my decision to manage my energy deliberately, I now check in with myself before, during and after an activity.
I gauge my energy level at the start of my work day, during my first set of daily meetings and then after they are done. I can then choose to get up and walk around, or do a bit of mental rest if I find I need a break. It means that the programming session that I will engage in after that will be much more productive.
The same thing applies at home. I routinely check in with myself every couple of hours (via push reminder) to determine if I need a break.
Build Rest into Your Routine
This next technique I learned after I injured my back while…sleeping. My lower back seized up as the result of tight hips and it was excruciating.
I wanted to sit somewhere and not move. But sitting made it hurt worse. So I found an app whose sole purpose was to remind me to stand up and walk around. (called Stand Up!) So when the timer went off every 25 minutes, I got up and hobbled around. It helped.
I’ve learned that I need to take breaks to stretch. Even though the back pain has passed, I left the app on to remind me to get up or stretch. It has helped my physical and mental processes by providing that rest I need.
I also have started to build crafting and reading time into my weekly routine. I do this so that I give myself permission to rejuvenate rather than pushing myself to do “just one more thing.”
Mindful Consumption
I thought I had a handle on what I consume. I don’t read or watch the news, and I stay off of social media with the exception of one 15 minute period on Fridays. But I am still overwhelmed and exhausted by everything coming at me.
I recently realized that having notifications – even paired down – buzzing on my wrist was not only interrupting every thing I did, but was also draining me. It was just as bad as looking at my phone every time it buzzed. Even though I didn’t always look at the notification, part of my brain was always trying to guess what it was.
I am starting to see deeper layers of consumption that I hadn’t considered because of this. It’s worthy of a separate article, but I’ve paired down the things that catch my attention.
I have traded my before-bed reading for Calm sleep stories as well in order to cut down on information consumption. Even when the consumption is fun, it still has a cumulative impact.
Conclusion
Throughout this experiment, I have been conscious of how the little choices I am making to slow down and scale back are really not about retreating. It’s about preparing myself for my choices and priorities.
Over to you: leave a comment with the answer to “what is one way you can slow down or rest this week?”
