The Art of Rest summary

You can find it at your job. You can find it at home. In fact, you can find it pretty much anywhere. Current concerns can be a source of it, as can regrets about the past and worries about the future.

If all this riddling is stressing you out, well, that’s only appropriate – because stress is precisely what’s being referred to.

We live in stressful times. The hubbub of the bustling world demands an always-on mentality of chronic busyness. It can feel like there’s no time to slow down. Or, if there is, there’s still that nagging, guilty feeling that rest is undeserved.

But the consequences of not resting are potentially far more severe than a fleeting pang of guilt.

The key message here is: Stress causes damaging effects to health and well-being. Rest can help.

The dangers of too much stress are well documented. A 2018 study by the Mental Health Foundation found that half a million people in the UK experience work-related stress. And according to the same research, nearly three-quarters of Brits felt so stressed at some point during the year that they couldn’t cope.

People who’re overwhelmed by stress also tend to sleep less. And this can have devastating consequences. One US study found that fatigue was responsible for 13 percent of workplace injuries. Sixteen percent of respondents also admitted to recently falling asleep at the wheel.

As if this weren’t enough, insufficient sleep is tied to a long list of potential health problems, from hypertension and stroke to mood disorders, obesity, and colorectal cancer. So getting quality sleep is essential.

Overtiredness – from lack of sleep or lack of rest – also affects your cognitive abilities. Exhaustion can cause memory lapses, trouble focusing, and impaired judgment. And tasks that might normally be a piece of cake can become much more difficult.

Adults aren’t the only ones suffering from too little rest. In UK schools, the last 20 years have seen break times eliminated to make more time for extra lessons. Today, only 1 percent of English secondary schools have an afternoon break, despite evidence indicating that breaks improve pupil concentration. 

From baby boomers to millennials to Generation Z, we could all benefit from being more rested.

But here’s the thing: there’s only really one way to get sleep – by sleeping. Restfulness, on the other hand, can be found in many different activities while we’re awake.