Rest doesn’t have to be earned!

We live in a society that glorifies work. Being labelled a “hard worker” is a compliment and “going above and beyond” is seen as a reason to give someone an employee of the month badge. Over the Easter period, I lost count of the amount of out of office emails I received that said “I am currently taking some hard-earned rest”, as if they had to justify why they were taking time away from work.

Now, I’m not saying that putting in a reasonable amount of effort into any work that we do is a bad thing, especially if it’s enjoyable and we are treated respectfully by our employers or the people we work with/provide services to, but I do think we need to come away from this culture of rest needing to be earned. Because here’s the thing….

Sometimes we feel tired, stressed or lacking in energy for no obvious reason and that is ok. It’s fine to rest simply because your body tells you that you need to, even if, by societies standards, you haven’t worked “hard” that day.

I try to keep my weekends as free as possible so I can simply sit with a book. In fact, my ideal weekend consists of a book and a sofa and that is pretty much it (ok, maybe some wine too!). However, on a Friday when clients or friends ask me what I have planned for the weekend I find myself saying something like “I’ve had a really busy week so all I want to do is rest.” And I will say that even if my week hasn’t been particularly busy, because I worry I will be judged for being lazy if I don’t say that. In reality, what is wrong with just saying “I feel the need to rest this weekend”?

My partner is very much a do-er and so on a weekend he can be found outside building something, mowing something or cementing something. He does this partly out of necessity but also because he enjoys it. Naturally, by the end of the day, he is knackered and this makes me feel even guiltier for choosing to do nothing. This isn’t on him, he knows how happy reading makes me and never makes me feel bad for that. This is a product of my own deep-rooted feelings that not being productive every waking hour is a bad thing – something I am trying to unlearn.

The truth is, even if you have had a whole week of rest and your body is telling you that you need another day, it’s important to listen to that. There may be a medical reason for this and, if you feel you are tired for no obvious reason over a long period of time, definitely seek medical advice. However, it could also just be your body’s way of telling you that it’s time to stop chasing that “hardest worker” accolade and start scheduling regular rest times, earned or not.

So, next time someone asks you what your plans for the weekend are or you find yourself typing out an out of office email response, try simply saying, “I’m taking some time to rest”, without justifying it.