Rest is not productive.

Hear me out.

I understand the sentiment behind the posts, articles, and images out in the world touting rest as productive.

The underlying message is getting it right.

Rest is helpful.

Rest increases your wellbeing.

You need rest.

But rest is not productivity.

Rest and productivity are two phases of one cycle.

We need both phases of productivity and rest to complete the cycle and maintain physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual homeostasis.

But when we have to justify our need for rest as being productive, we get caught in a culture where we are measured by what we produce, how long we produce, and how much we can produce.

This does not allow us to complete the cycle. And this is how we burn ourselves out.

The last few months, I’ve been upping my level of physical activity as I have returned to teaching more fitness and dance classes. It feels great to move so much again, but I’ve also experienced higher levels of fatigue as a result.

Last week, I noticed myself really feeling tired. And for a moment, I heard a little voice in my head say, “Younger you would’ve just pushed through.”

Ha! Thank goodness older me is wiser.

I know what has happened in the times I have pushed my body to stay in the training or performance phase. My body gets tired, I often end up injured, and my long-term performance dwindles.

So I rested. I spent a few days walking leisurely instead of doing cardio. I focused on gentle stretching and mobility instead of intensive resistance training. I went to bed a bit earlier and slept a bit later.

I enjoyed a phase of rest.

After a few days, when I returned to a cardio workout, I was able to go harder and faster than I had in a long time.

An intense productivity phase allowed me to move into deep rest.

A deep rest phase increased the output on my next productivity phase.

By completing the cycle, I could show up as my best.

Rest is not productive.

Rest is rest.

Let yourself complete the cycle 💕

Join The Conversation

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic.

How do you balance rest and productivity in your own life?

Have you found a particular approach or routine that works best for you?

Please share your insights and stories in the comments below. Let’s learn from each other and grow together in our understanding of the importance of rest in our cycles of productivity.