These days, it seems like everyone is extremely busy all of the time. In fact, some people seem to have latched on to the idea that being busy is a status symbol. That seems counterintuitive, but a so-called “cult of busyness” sees folks trying to establish their importance and prestige by keeping their schedule jam packed with work, volunteering, and more.
Now, it is undeniable that work and volunteering are worthy endeavors. The issue when it comes to your mental health, however, is whether you allow yourself enough time to rest. In a world that values going and going and going, it can be hard to remember that mental health requires a commitment to relaxing, recharging, and truly resting.
Let’s take a look at the importance of rest—and how you might get more of it, even when your commitments are many.
Why Rest is So Important
Let’s face it: Human beings just are not built to go without substantial periods of rest. The fact that we require significant periods of sleep to simply function at all is clear enough evidence of this fact.
But rest is not just about sleep. In our busy, busy world, we sometimes fail to take advantage of smaller opportunities to build rest into the day. Over time, a lack of rest leads to feelings of burnout—but even before that point, a lack of rest can lead to symptoms of a mental health disorder.
The first step in finding ways to get more rest might be to take an inventory of your current resting habits (or lack thereof).
Reflecting on Your Current Approaches to Rest—And Making Changes
Here are some questions worth asking yourself.
- How much sleep are you getting, and how restful is it?
- How often do you eat lunch at your desk—or skip the meal entirely?
- What did you do last weekend?
- When did you last have coffee or a meal with a friend?
- What’s your favorite hobby, and when did you last engage with it?
- When you feel under the weather, do you take time off or work through it?
- How much doomscrolling are you doing?
- When was your last vacation?
Asking these questions (and others like them) can give you a clearer sense of where you could improve when it comes to getting more rest. Committing to eating lunch away from your desk, for example, adds a period of rest to the middle of the day—which can help power your afternoon. Replacing doomscrolling with a quick walk is a good way to recharge yourself. And, of course, developing a consistent and effective sleep routine can make a significant positive difference in your physical and mental health.
In an ideal world, we would all have the resources and support necessary to indulge in longer and more frequent periods of rest. For example, this personal account of a person who has built extended periods of rest into their life is inspiring, but as the author notes, it is not possible for everyone to follow her example.
That said, huge numbers of Americans are not taking time off from work—even though they have vacation time banked. If you are among them, it is time to open your calendar and find some time you can devote to yourself—and to resting.
And speaking of your calendar, it is not a bad idea at all to put small periods of rest—a few minutes, a couple of hours, an afternoon—right into your daily calendar. After all, you use your calendar to make sure you don’t miss anything important, right? Well, you need to find time to rest, and your calendar can help you do just that.
Balance Can Be the Key to Unlocking More Rest
Many of us prioritize work and other activities that keep us hopping over all kinds of other important things—our friends, our families, our hobbies, and, yes, our physical and mental health. What we are suggesting is a rebalancing of your priorities. You can get the rest you need and enjoy your life while still getting plenty of work done and meeting your other commitments. But it will not happen unless you make a different kind of commitment—a commitment to increasing the amount and quality of your rest. Finding a better balance should be your goal.
You Can Rest Assured that We Can Help
Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Peak View Behavioral Health offers inpatient and outpatient treatment for mental health disorders. Those disorders include the various kinds of depression, anxiety and panic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues centered around trauma, and more. We help adolescents, adults, families, and Veterans improve their mental health and maintain those improvements over time.
