Is Rest a bug or feature in a high performance journey?

In my experience of working within sport and performance, I learnt the importance of rest and recovery and how its a crucial part of all athletes’ routines. It has immense value as it impacts the quality of their training days and overall enjoyment in sport.

We as professionals too, look forward to those weekend sleep-ins, travel plans or just lazy Sundays, to help us recover from a busy routine. But is rest only related to sleep or resting our body?

Personally, on my journey towards becoming a high performing professional and business owner, rest was something I considered as a “waste of time” and the more time I spent away from work, the more uncomfortable I felt. I believed that “It was my time to work hard”, make my place in the community of sport psychology and give the best of me, to my clients and colleagues.

These high standards of course propelled me on a fun and adrenaline-filled journey, and I grew as a professional many fold. But, unfortunately, I also experienced burnout quite often which shook me up to realize, is rest a detour or a part of the journey? Is it a bug or a feature of this journey?

Various hinderances to rest and recovery:

1.????? "I love what I do"

I have heard corporate professionals, leaders and athletes mention that they don’t need breaks, because they love what they do. I agree that love and passion take us a long way in our journeys without needing a break, but every car needs re-fueling, which happens through appropriate rest. So wouldn’t it be better to refuel before we run out?

2.????? Rest = wasting time ?

I have met many athletes who like to push through on rest days too. I distinctly remember one of my athletes mentioning, “ma’am, I just have 3 months so I don’t want to waste time on rest days" "I only practiced for 30mins, isn’t that okay?”

Even with working professionals, a common thought is –“weekends are a good time to finish up pending work or I have slept enough and can now catch up on work.” Yes, maybe it’s a good idea during certain crunch periods but not on every weekend.

3.????? Work is a good distraction from emotions

Rest and recovery may also bring to surface certain difficult and unprocessed emotions that are hard to accept, which can propel many people back to work to feel productive and less uncomfortable.

?Do any of these resonate with you too?

Rest is not only physical but psychological too

When we speak of rest and recovery, we often think in terms of physical rest, sleep and no-workout days. But psychological rest comes from detaching ourselves from our constant zone of work. It’s about investing time in other areas of our life and our interests. If our minds are thinking of work/sport even during “rest days” then are we actually resting?

An important way that we can start taking those steps to rest effectively is to realise that Growth is a series of sprints.

Life happens inside and outside our careers or sport, and those changes highlight that growth and success is a series of sprints over a long time, rather than a never-ending sprint. Sometimes doing “good enough” today works better than pushing ourselves till a point of exhaustion.

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Musings:

1.????? Do you see rest as a detour or a part of the journey?

2.????? What helps you feel mentally and physically rested?

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Last thoughts:

Rest doesn’t need to be a reward, or it doesn’t need to be only at the end of the week. Short breaks in the day and the week can be great ways to refuel our minds and body, so that we enjoy the journey.

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Note from a psychologist-

1.????? Mental and physical exhaustion, along with disinterest in the activity we cherish, are symptoms of burnout, and it takes a long time to recover from it. My recommendation would be to be observant of what the body and mind is asking for, and take appropriate rest days to prevent burnout. ?

2.????? Different personalities styles require different levels of rest, so I recommend you to reflect for yourself, what works best for you.

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