Are you feeling burnt out and struggling at work? It can be hard to manage a full-time job, family, friends, hobbies, and keeping healthy all at once.
Read on to read about the 7 types you need and how this will improve your work and life.
1. Mental
Recently, there has been research At Greenbranch Recovery to show that simply sleeping doesn’t rest your body fully. Have you ever entered a room and had no idea how you ended up there? This is a sure sign that you need some mental rest. This can easily be fulfilled by taking pauses throughout the day and taking the time to ground yourself again during the working day.
If you work from home, you’ll find that mental rest is even harder to come by.
This is because there’s no set limit between the end of the working day and the start of your relaxation time. You can still be checking your email at 9PM, waiting for a message that a client didn’t send during your working hours. You’re committed to your job, so you want to get things done ASAP.
You need to set boundaries.
In almost all cases, that email can wait until tomorrow. You need to sign off at a set time, rather than telling yourself “I’m done when all my tasks are completed.” The demands of work are endless, but your time is not.
Without proper mental rest, you’ll never establish a healthy relationship with working from home. Time to make it a priority.
2. Physical
Physical rest is perhaps the most obvious type of rest: this can mean sleeping or moving your body through yoga or exercise. You can ensure you get all 8 hours of sleep every single night and still feel tired; this is a sign that you may be deficient elsewhere and should investigate other types of rest.
Physical rest can also be improved by changing your sleeping habits. If you find that you often wake up with aches and pains, it may indicate that you’re sleeping in an uncomfortable position.
Sleeping positions feel like they should be constant throughout our lives, but they’re not. As we age, our bodies require different things for a good night’s rest (you’ll also find that as you age, sleeping on your back is a leading cause of snoring).
Try different sleeping positions and pillow types. You may find removing a pillow or choosing a thinner pillow removes that ache in your neck you’ve got used to waking up with.
3. Social
Social rest might not be what you expect: you don’t need to take time away from those you love – you simply need to only surround yourself with people who bring you energy.
Avoid spending time with those who drain you and allow your social battery to be charged with positive energy who you feel energized being around.
Never feel bad about saying that you can’t go to a party if you’re feeling exhausted. Social gatherings are typically seen as a time to blow off steam and unwind, but if you’re socially anxious, they’re the opposite.
If your big Friday night plans are more geared towards a night in with a book, a game, or your favorite TV show than socializing, that’s fine! There’s no point trying to unwind after a long working week by attending an event that you know will be stressful.
4. Creative
Enjoying creative rest is important to allow our brains to reset themselves. This can be different for every person. Some people might enjoy going to an art gallery, while some may want to spend time painting – this is totally up to you!
Another way to top up this type of rest is to spend time outside and enjoying nature – you don’t need to go on a hike, but you can appreciate the wonders of the world around you.
Creative rest is difficult to force. You can’t compel your creative mind to get back to work by “deliberately relaxing” and waiting for it to start up again.
Rather, you should choose activities that you find take your mind of things naturally. Whether this is sitting and watching the ocean, chopping vegetables for a stew, or absent-mindedly trying to learn a new song on the piano, distractions are 100% welcome here!
5. Emotional
Simply put, emotional rest is that feeling of inner peace: when the world goes quiet around you. This can be achieved by confiding in others or feeling like you can open up and be vulnerable.
For introverts, this might sound like your worst nightmare, in which case, you can journal. In this way, your emotions are out of your body and onto the paper without the pressure of being socially drained at the same time.
Expression is fundamental to rest. You need to get your thoughts out somehow – finding a place to safely vent is so important.
6. Sensory
A sure sign you need sensory rest is that you feel energized in the morning and drained as the day goes on. Today’s world is full of technology: phones, screens, laptops, and tablets, which have been exacerbated by the rise of working from home.
Sensory overload isn’t always a sudden, dramatic response to overwhelming stimuli – it can be a build-up of factors that eventually overwhelm the body’s senses.
It’s a great idea to switch off all your screens, whether it be for an hour, a morning, or a day, and let this side of you recharge.
7. Spiritual
Spiritual rest is linked to the need to belong: this might be belonging to a specific faith, a group, or a community.
If you find yourself going to work every day for only the paycheck without social interaction or a feeling of belonging, then you’ll feel a deficit with this type of rest. Meditation is a great way to top up this type of rest.
Rest Up
Managing everything is complicated – make sure you make time every day to recharge all 7 types of rest. This will allow you to perform better at work and lead a happier, more fulfilling life in general.
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