For most of us, overwork is the new norm, and we never truly take the time to rest and recharge. But as Silicon Valley consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang explains in this groundbreaking book, rest needs to be taken seriously and to be done properly, because when you rest better you work better.
Drawing on emerging neuroscience, Rest is packed with easy practical tips for incorporating rest into our everyday:
- Go for a long walk to stimulate and sustain creativity - Schedule deliberate active rest periods into your diary to try out new activities like painting or learning a language - Stop working on a task when you know what the next step will be, this will make it easier to get started the next day - Establish clear boundaries between work and rest time - Take a nap during the day to increase alertness, boost your concentration and decrease fatigue - Get good quality sleep at night to stay healthy, solidify memories and generate new ideas
When you rest better you'll find that it won't just be your work which improves - you'll have more time for hobbies, stronger relationships and you'll sleep better, too.
"An incredibly timely read for my own increasingly rest-starved life. This might be the book to finally persuade us that downtime isn't in conflict with good work; rather, it's an essential ingredient of it" Oliver Burkeman, Guardian