Why You Need More Rest with Claudia Hammond (Re-Release) #274
This episode features Claudia Hammond, broadcaster, psychology lecturer, and author of "The Art of Rest." She discusses why rest is crucial, the science behind our inability to relax, and the top 10 activities that help us switch off for better health and productivity.
Deep Dive Analysis
18 Topic Outline
Busyness as a Modern Status Symbol
Defining Rest and the 'Rest Deficit'
Perception of Busyness vs. Actual Time Use
Technology's Role in Constant Connectivity and Lack of Rest
Societal Views on Busyness: American vs. Italian Perspectives
The 'Rest Test': Identifying Most Restful Activities
Why Social Media Isn't Restful and the Burden of 'Life Admin'
Personal Experience: Deleting the Email App for More Rest
Benefits of Micro-Breaks and Daydreaming
Strategic Use of Music for Relaxation and Mood Change
Mindful TV Watching and the 'Guilty Couch Potato' Effect
Historical Disapproval of Reading Novels
The Challenge of Doing Nothing: Electric Shock Study
Boredom as a Form of Rest and Adult Coloring Books
Vinyl Clubs: Communal Listening Experiences
The Importance of Solitude vs. Loneliness
Encouraging Rest in the Workplace and the Four-Day Week
Top Tips for Prioritizing Rest
7 Key Concepts
Busyness as a badge of honour
This concept describes how, in modern society, being busy has become a status symbol, indicating importance and demand, in contrast to historical periods where leisure signified wealth and success.
Rest deficit
A term coined by Claudia Hammond, suggesting a widespread lack of adequate rest in society, drawing a parallel to the recognized problem of sleep deficit.
Micro breaks
Short breaks, lasting only a couple of minutes, taken periodically (e.g., every hour) during work. Research shows these breaks can improve concentration and overall wellbeing by the end of the day.
Rest test
A large-scale survey conducted by psychologists at Durham University and Claudia Hammond, involving 18,000 participants from 135 countries, to identify and rank the most restful activities.
Guilty couch potato
A German study finding that individuals who feel guilty while watching TV do not experience the same level of refreshment afterward compared to those who watch without guilt.
Mindless reading
A phenomenon where a person's eyes track words on a page, but their mind is wandering or daydreaming, meaning they are not actively processing or taking in the content being read.
Loneliness vs. Solitude
Loneliness is defined as not having the desired quality or quantity of relationships, an unwanted state. Solitude, conversely, is a chosen state of being alone, often desired for recovery, reflection, and personal space.
11 Questions Answered
We feel busy due to high self-imposed standards, constant information access, social media pressure for 'perfectionist presentation,' and the blurring lines between work and non-work caused by technology making us feel constantly 'on call.'
Rest is anything that helps you relax, switch off from worrying, and take a break or pause; it can be a very active pursuit and doesn't necessarily mean sitting still and doing nothing.
Time use surveys suggest people were just as busy in the 1950s, but our perception of busyness has changed, making us feel more constantly under pressure, partly due to technology and higher self-imposed standards.
Rest is very individual; what one person finds restful (like running) another might find torturous, emphasizing the need for each person to find their own combination of activities that work for them.
While people may enjoy social media, they often don't find it restful because it can make them feel more restless, and the screen-based interaction can feel like 'work' or 'admin,' rather than a true break.
Micro breaks, lasting only a couple of minutes every hour, help people concentrate harder for longer and improve their overall wellbeing by the end of the day, making them more productive.
Listening to music, especially music you personally enjoy, has a strong emotional draw and can quickly change your mood, with calmer music often chosen strategically to unwind and recover from stress.
Reading is considered restful because it provides a powerful distraction from worries, offers escapism into other lives or topics, and forces a pause from constantly jumping between tasks, allowing for focused attention.
Yes, daydreaming is okay and can be beneficial, serving as a jumping-off point for the brain to make connections, organize thoughts, and even boost creativity, rather than being seen as a lack of concentration.
People find it incredibly hard to do nothing, even preferring an electric shock over being alone with their thoughts, possibly because modern life rarely requires us to be bored or sit with our discomfort, leading to discomfort when forced to.
To make TV watching more restful, approach it mindfully by consciously choosing what to watch as an active relaxation time, rather than mindlessly scrolling, and avoid feeling guilty about engaging in the activity.
18 Actionable Insights
1. Discover Personal Rest Prescription
Identify and understand which specific activities are most restful for you personally, creating your own unique ‘prescription’ for effective rest.
2. Accept Endless To-Do Lists
Recognize and accept that your to-do list will never be fully completed, as new tasks constantly arise, preventing you from waiting for completion to rest.
3. Avoid Guilt During Rest
Allow yourself to happily engage in restful activities without guilt, as feeling bad about resting can diminish its refreshing effects and make the activity unrestful.
4. Reframe Wasted Time as Rest
Actively notice small restful moments and reframe perceived ‘wasted time’ (like waiting in a queue) as an opportunity for a break to do nothing, rather than feeling annoyed or immediately reaching for your phone.
5. Stop Overestimating Future Time
Avoid overestimating your future availability; recognize that you won’t automatically be more organized or have more spare time unless you proactively say no to commitments in advance.
6. Use “Future-Self” Test
When considering future commitments, imagine if the request were for next week; if you’d be horrified by the idea due to busyness, then decline it for the future as well.
7. Protect Most Restful Activities
When trying to free up time, carefully choose what to give up, ensuring you do not sacrifice the activities that are genuinely most restful and beneficial for your mental health.
8. Question Value of Busyness
Challenge the societal glorification of busyness by critically evaluating if your busy activities are truly valuable and aligned with how you want to spend your time.
9. Schedule Regular Rest Periods
Prescribe yourself 15 minutes of a beloved, relaxing activity (like gardening) during your workday, consciously deciding not to feel guilty about it for your mental health.
10. Delete Email App From Phone
Delete your email application from your phone to reduce constant checking and create more personal time, as this can significantly change your life by removing a source of micro-stress.
11. Avoid Late-Night Email Checks
Do not look at your phone or emails at 11:30 at night, as it is a very bad idea that can disrupt rest and well-being.
12. Re-evaluate High Self-Standards
Reflect on the very high standards you set for yourself (e.g., fitness, appearance, gourmet meals, constant self-improvement) as these contribute to feeling busy and pressured.
13. Prioritize “Me Time”
Actively schedule and protect ‘me time’ for yourself, especially if you tend to prioritize caring for others, as it is crucial for personal well-being and relaxation.
14. Use Music Strategically
Use music strategically to influence your mood, playing calming music to unwind from a busy day before switching to more lively music if you plan to be active later.
15. Create Mood-Specific Playlists
Create different music playlists (e.g., calming, pre-going out) to make it easy to engage in desired moods or activities, aligning with behavior change principles.
16. Curate Media Watchlist
Compile a curated list of films or TV shows you want to watch to avoid mindless scrolling and make conscious choices for shared, uplifting relaxation time.
17. Consolidate Weekend Work
If you must work on weekends, consolidate all tasks into one day (e.g., Saturday) to ensure you have at least one full day (e.g., Sunday) completely free for rest and recovery.
18. Embrace Incremental Rest
Do not adopt an ‘all or nothing’ mentality for rest; instead, start implementing small changes and taking incremental steps towards incorporating more rest into your life.
6 Key Quotes
Busyness has become a badge of honour in a way.
Jonathan Gershuni (quoted by Claudia Hammond)
We're going to wait forever. And I think one thing people need to do is to accept that their to-do list will never be done.
Claudia Hammond
Rest has a PR problem.
Rangan Chatterjee
You can kind of make a restful activity unrestful by feeling bad about it.
Claudia Hammond
The opposite of loneliness is wanting some time on your own because you are choosing to have that time on your own, which is very different from loneliness where it is imposed upon you because you haven't got the relationships you want.
An unnamed person (quoted by Claudia Hammond)
Most people think that in the future, there'll be better organized versions of themselves and they'll have more spare time. And I'm sorry, but that is not the case.
Claudia Hammond
2 Protocols
Finding Your Personal Rest Prescription
Claudia Hammond- Find your own combination of activities that are most restful for you.
- Prescribe yourself 15 minutes of that restful activity when you can.
- Stop fetishizing busyness; question if your busy activities align with what you truly want to be doing with your time.
- Avoid overestimating future spare time; say no to things in advance by imagining them as if they were scheduled for next week.
- Be careful not to accidentally give up the most restful activities you do when trying to make more time.
Vinyl Club Listening Protocol
Claudia Hammond- Members take turns choosing an album to play.
- Play one side of the chosen album; everyone must sit and listen in silence, without talking.
- Discuss the music and chat after the first side has ended.
- Listen to the second side of the album in silence.