How to Rest When There’s Always Something Else to Do

So real quick, the first thing I want to talk about is why does rest feel so difficult for so many of us? It's not everybody.

And there are people out there that are really good at rhythms of resting.

And quite frankly, I'm quite jealous of those people.

I think there is something that we feel, which is both a relaxation guilt and a time anxiety.

So relaxation guilt comes from the fact there is a feeling that there is something else I should be doing rather than resting.

I have a bit of a personality that let's say it's a Saturday morning and I come down and the kitchen's a bit of a mess and I want to do something restful.

I can't rest until I've done that thing first.

I can't ignore the fact there is washing in the machine or washing on the table or washing that needs to be done or a dishwasher that needs to be empty.

I kind of want to do those things and then I want to sit and read or think or whatever it is I want to do.

I find it difficult to put the rest first.

And I think that is because there is something ingrained in me that one likes to see a sense of order for me to feel rested.

But I also think that I have a problem with seeing that rest is a reward for work.

And I wonder whether you're listening to this and you are stuck in that trap or you just have literally too much to do.

And so it feels like, well, if I rest, I'm not going to get everything done that I wanted to.

We're in this optimization culture that I've been talking about on the podcast.

Everything needs to be optimized and rest doesn't feel very optimal.

Every moment should be useful or should have an outcome or should have a milestone or should be tracked or should be productive in some way.

We're also constantly connected to emails and texts and messages.

We are always on.

There is always a way of getting hold of us.

And as I've said before, many people who listen to this podcast are mothers and those of us who are parents of teenagers.

I feel for both my teenagers and my elderly dad that...

I do need to be available for them at all times.

So there's always a sense of, well, I'm never going to just put my phone in a drawer for a whole day and ignore it because I may need to be contacted and I want to be available.

So there is that anxiety around that.