l Taking a break from other people
l Resting your mind as well as your body
l Exerting your body in order to rest your mind
l Being distracted from your worries
l Allowing your mind to wander
l Giving yourself permission not to achieve
anything in particularW
e know that tiredness has
a huge impact on our
wellbeing, but it seems
that relieving tiredness is
not just about getting
more sleep. In The Rest
Test, a global survey of over 18,000 people, more
than two thirds of respondents said they were
not getting enough downtime. And those people
who said they felt fully rested had wellbeing
scores twice as high as those who say they
needed more. Rest has not, so far, received the
same amount of attention as sleep but there is
evidence that spending time relaxing helps us to
make better decisions, lowers our risk of
depression, boosts our memories and means we
catch fewer colds. It’s clear that we want and
need to rest more. However, it’s not quite that
simple; rest is more complex than sleep because
there are so many different ways of doing it.
Whilst you might think the only way to rest is
lying down in a hammock in the sunshine, it is
actually any restful activity we do while awake.
For some people, tiring out the body through
vigorous exercise, like running, allows the
mind to rest. For many others, the feeling of
restfulness comes after the physical activity has
been completed, that delicious satisfaction that
comes from relaxing after hard work or the
achievement of a goal.
Rest can also be sedentary and, for a lot of us,
it’s when we are lying in a hot bath or curled up
in a comfy chair, that our minds are able to
switch off. And while for some, rest involves
expending no mental effort, others relax by
reading or doing cryptic crosswords.Best of the rest
FEELING TIRED? YOU MAY NEED REST AS MUCH AS SLEEP,
CONCLUDES A GLOBAL STUDY. BUT THAT’S NOT NECESSARILY
DOING NOTHING, EXPLAINS CLAUDIA HAMMONDWELLBEINGIt’s clear everybody rests in their own way,
but The Rest Test results revealed many
common elements to the ways we choose to
switch off, as well as some surprising results.
Spending time with family and friends didn’t
make it into the top ten – it came in at number- In fact, the top five activities (see opposite)
are often done alone. It seems that when we
rest, very often we want to escape other people.
STRIKING A BALANCE
While there are many different ways to achieve
a restful state, it seems there is an optimal
amount of rest that is good for us. People with
the highest levels of wellbeing were resting for
five to six hours a day. That probably sounds like
a lot but it’s likely you’re already getting more
time to rest than you think. Surveys show that
men in the UK have six hours and nine minutes
per day to spend on leisure activities and
women, five hours and 29 minutes. These are,
of course, averages and are also averaged acrossTHE INGREDIENTS FOR REST
To help create your personal recipe for rest ask
yourself which of the following contribute most
to you achieving that sense of restfulness.ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCKlTakinga breakfromotherpeople
lRestingyourmindaswellasyourbody
lExertingyourbodyin ordertorestyourmind
lBeingdistractedfromyourworries
lAllowingyourmindtowander
lGivingyourselfpermissionnottoachieve
anythingin particularW
e know that tiredness has
a huge impact on our
wellbeing, but it seems
that relieving tiredness is
not just about getting
more sleep. In The Rest
Test, a global survey of over 18,000 people, more
than two thirds of respondents said they were
not getting enough downtime. And those people
who said they felt fully rested had wellbeing
scores twice as high as those who say they
needed more. Rest has not, so far, received the
same amount of attention as sleep but there is
evidence that spending time relaxing helps us to
make better decisions, lowers our risk of
depression, boosts our memories and means we
catch fewer colds. It’s clear that we want and
need to rest more. However, it’s not quite that
simple; rest is more complex than sleep because
there are so many different ways of doing it.
Whilst you might think the only way to rest is
lying down in a hammock in the sunshine, it is
actually any restful activity we do while awake.
For some people, tiring out the body through
vigorous exercise, like running, allows the
mind to rest. For many others, the feeling of
restfulness comes after the physical activity has
been completed, that delicious satisfaction that
comes from relaxing after hard work or the
achievement of a goal.
Rest can also be sedentary and, for a lot of us,
it’s when we are lying in a hot bath or curled up
in a comfy chair, that our minds are able to
switch off. And while for some, rest involves
expending no mental effort, others relax by
reading or doing cryptic crosswords.Best of the rest
FEELING TIRED? YOU MAY NEED REST AS MUCH AS SLEEP,
CONCLUDES A GLOBAL STUDY. BUT THAT’S NOT NECESSARILY
DOING NOTHING, EXPLAINS CLAUDIA HAMMONDWELLBEING
It’s clear everybody rests in their own way,
but The Rest Test results revealed many
common elements to the ways we choose to
switch off, as well as some surprising results.
Spending time with family and friends didn’t
make it into the top ten – it came in at number- In fact, the top five activities (see opposite)
are often done alone. It seems that when we
rest, very often we want to escape other people.
STRIKING A BALANCE
While there are many different ways to achieve
a restful state, it seems there is an optimal
amount of rest that is good for us. People with
the highest levels of wellbeing were resting for
five to six hours a day. That probably sounds like
a lot but it’s likely you’re already getting more
time to rest than you think. Surveys show that
men in the UK have six hours and nine minutes
per day to spend on leisure activities and
women, five hours and 29 minutes. These are,
of course, averages and are also averaged acrossTHE INGREDIENTS FOR REST
To help create your personal recipe for rest ask
yourself which of the following contribute most
to you achieving that sense of restfulness.ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK