Resting for your wellbeing
Growing up, I rarely saw my parents rest.
My grandparents only rested once they retired well into their mid and late 80s.
As a daughter of immigrants, I grew up with values that centered on productivity and education.
I also grew up in the millennial hustle culture. Work as hard as you can and you’ll get to live the life you’ve always dreamt of. You’re weak if you need rest. You’ll never make it if you aren’t working harder than the person next to you. It’s easy to see why so many of us find our self-worth attached to our level of productivity. It’s also easy to see why burnout is one of the biggest problems facing our country and the healthcare system today.
At the height of my burnout, I worked approximately 80-100 hour weeks (with overnight calls every other day) and took approximately 4-5 weeks of vacation a year. An average employee in America works 40-55 hours a week and receives 2 weeks of vacation a year. Do we think this is enough? How did I think 1 week of rest every 3 months was going to be enough to recharge and replenish me? Well, I learned the hard way that it didn’t and the exhaustion caught up to me.
So, let’s talk about rest. Why do we need rest? Enough rest helps our bodies recover and recharge from daily physical and mental movement. Not getting enough rest is well-linked to irritability, anxiety, decreased ability to concentrate, increased risk of heart disease, weight and appetite issues and even increased chronic pain. This is the short list. Rest is essential to our wellbeing. We can prioritize rest by incorporating small restful things throughout the day or week.
There are 7 types of rest to focus on for our overall wellbeing. When we think of rest, we usually think of physical rest, such as sleeping, napping or laying down. Ideally, we would create more time in our day to do that, but that’s not always possible. But we also need to consider mental rest, spiritual rest, sensory rest, emotional rest, social rest and creative rest. These can be creatively added throughout your day for sustained wellbeing and recovery.
Mental rest can help with constant racing thoughts. Allow yourself a scheduled break (or multiple) at work. This can be as short as 3 minutes. Journaling is a process that can bring more clarity to your complex thoughts while also allowing you to release them at the same time. Spiritual rest does not necessarily have to be intertwined with religion. But it can connect us to something bigger than ourselves. Volunteering for the community, connecting with nature and traveling the world can all be restful and reenergizing. Sensory rest is extremely important in this technologically driven day and age. Putting your phone away before bedtime, avoiding it for the first 30 minutes in the morning, spending time in a quiet or dim room all help the nervous system regulate better. Emotional rest allows us to be authentic and honest with our feelings. Creating a supportive network, journaling and avoiding emotionally draining situations gives us more room for ourselves. Social rest can be achieved by building in alone time throughout the week and RSVPing “No” to more social invitations. Creative rest allows your mind to enjoy other people’s creations rather than just constantly working on your own. A trip to the art museum or the botanical gardens can be inspiring and restful.
Rest is an extremely important tool for burnout prevention and recovery. Hustle culture taught us to diminish our desire for rest in exchange for productivity, but we are paying the price for it now. Making room for rest will create big waves for your mental health and wellness. You deserve it.
Neha Amin is a double-board certified burn and critical care surgeon in Atlanta, Ga. She is also a certified health and wellness coach and the founder of Balance and Breakthrough, www.balanceandbreakthrough.com. After recovering from her own burnout, she is committed to empowering female physicians reclaim balance and joy in their lives and in practice.
