Rest Comprehensively
Quality Rest is the foundation of Quality Results
Karoshi — is a Japanese concept that means “death by overwork”. As much as I typically advocate in my articles that we can all do more, sometimes we can also do too much. Whether it is working, studying, or practicing a skill, there is a point beyond which we start hurting ourselves. Physically, and mentally.
The Japanese started linking heart attacks, strokes, and suicides to overworking in the second half of the twentieth century. But this concept is not limited to Japan. For example, the Chinese have guolaosi, and the South Koreans have gwarosa, which mean the same thing as karoshi.
It is, however, no longer a problem only in Japan or East Asia. Everywhere in the world, the tempo and intensity of work have increased. With the advent of modern technologies, it seems our lives have gotten faster. Thanks to instantaneous communication and the ability to immediately reach anyone anywhere, the boundaries between work and everything else in our lives have anything but disappeared. There are even studies suggesting that people are walking an average of 10% faster than they used to.
In 2021, WHO announced that working 55 hours or more per week was a serious health hazard. It is no wonder this statement came out in 2021. As the pandemic raged, we found ourselves in a new reality — Zoom burnout. The video conferencing platforms exhausted us. Mind and body. Too much focused eye contact on the screen. Reduced mobility. Zero breaks between meetings as our schedules were now jam-packed with online meetings. And it was not just video calls. Whatsapp. Skype. Skyrocketing numbers of e-mails.
If anything, things are going to get faster and more intense. How can we handle this? Perhaps a bit of unexpected advice here is — rest. Build rest into your schedule and be disciplined about it. Your body needs it. Your mind will thank you for it. And everyone around you will appreciate it, BELIEVE ME.
The first principle is — rest has to be rhythmical. You work for a certain period of time, and you rest. You work again, then you rest again. This cyclic approach is necessary and you have to be aware that a break is important, even if you don’t feel like you need it at that moment. Think Pomodoro technique — 25 minutes of work, 5 minutes of rest. Or whatever other reasonable cycle you choose.
The second principle is rest has to be a change. If your work is mostly seated, rest standing or moving around. If your work involves physical effort and movement, rest while stationary. Sit or lie down. If you were spending time with people, rest alone. If you were working alone, rest while with someone. This is why if you are working in front of a computer and you decide to take a break by surfing online, it is not going to have the same effect.
The third principle — be here, now. If you are resting, but all your thoughts are in the work, that will not be very rejuvenating. Be present. Mindfulness is a concept thrown around a lot these days. But without making it too complicated or esoteric, it is essentially a matter of paying attention to where you are, what you do, and how you feel. It can be practical and pragmatic, which is why it has been an essential component of very diverse philosophies — from Buddhism to Stoicism.
Before we go into different aspects of what can be qualified as rest, note that three key factors that lead to karoshi are apparently the time spent at the office, stress, and a lack of sleep. Therefore, the rest practices should aim to tackle all three. The rest should not only be physical, in fact, there are multiple types of rest that you need to build into your life — seven, according to Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith. In fact, this explains a lot. Think about it — sometimes even after a few days of great sleep, you may still feel exhausted. Why? Because you are not resting comprehensively. Or, despite barely sleeping for a couple of days, you feel full of energy. Why? Because even if you are low on sleep, you are all other types of rest. Let’s review all seven.
Physical rest. Let’s start with the obvious one. This is sleep. Taking naps. Afternoon siesta. The best resource on this is Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep (my takeaways from the book here). This is not where the list of things you can do to get physical rest ends though. Stretching, yoga, massage, and mobility exercises are types of active physical rest.
Mental rest. This is about having clarity and a relaxed state as a result of taking back control over your tasks. Not just at work, but also at home and in your personal life. To give your brain the space it needs to think, be creative, problem solve, and concentrate when you really need to, you need to introduce systems into your life that will take the burden of storing and organizing the things you need or want to do. The system that I recommend to everyone who cares to listen is Getting Things Done by David Allen (my takeaways from the book here). Taking breaks at work, a vacation, rituals to get you into the working mode in the morning, or shutdown rituals in the evening fall under mental rest too.
Sensory rest. Take a break from phones and computers, from social media and video calls, and from the city pace of life and sounds. Try silence. Close your eyes. Listen to relaxing music. You can even try sensory deprivation.
Creative rest. This is about refreshing your creative side. Spend time in nature. Take in a sunrise or a sunset. Take a stroll in a park. Where can you find inspiration? Visit a museum. Marvel at masterpieces of architecture or art. Read the classics of literature. Listen to beautiful music.
Emotional rest. How often do we hide our feelings? Are we at peace? Do we have the freedom to be who we are? One practice that helps develop emotional peace is expressing gratitude.
Social rest. Get rid of the relationships that exhaust you. Surround yourself with positive and supportive people. They say you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. So spend time with those who you can learn from, those you admire, and those you respect. Less partying. Less one-sided commitments that burden you. Block emotional vampires — this, I find is essential. Identify what drains you and stay away from it. Your family, if they bring you joy and a sense of fulfillment, can do much for your social rest. At the same time, the toxic relationships with those closest to us can do the most damage here.
Spiritual rest. Serve. Engage in something greater than yourself. Volunteer. Do purpose-driven activities. Find your meaning. Whatever it might be — your work, your interests, your family. Be generous. Meditate. Perhaps seek solace in your belief system, whatever it may be.
There you go. Rest, recover, and back to action.
