Recently I edited a podcast where the guest was talking about his creativity cycle and how he learned to lean into the different stages. He used the acronym CPR as a way to remember that after Creation comes Promotion, and after that should come Rest.
My cat would probably laugh at me if he knew I needed to journal about how to rest. He’s an expert and never neeed any help in that department.
When I heard this, it dawned on me that this was why I had been suffering from so much burnout back in 2020 — I had continuously put aside rest in order to do what I loved. I felt energized by it and I figured if I needed to rest, I would surely just know to do it, right? Wrong.
As I said, I suffered burn-out. I didn’t even know it really until a few months into it. The pandemic opened my eyes to the burnout when I realized that while most people I knew hated lockdown and being stuck at home, I was living in the duality of general anxiety over what was happening in the world and also this sense of relief that I was forced to slow down and stay home.
I leaned heavily into my introvertedness and tried to make the best of the situation.
But even three years later, I never really feel like I recovered from burnout. (Is it possible to recover from burnout while going through even more burnout from the world, itself?)
When I edited that podcast episode and learned the CPR acronym, I instantly knew I wanted to embrace it.
Creation was easy for me and I usually have about 4-5 posts and creative ideas brewing at any given time. Promotion is scary and even though I like to think I have a knack for marketing, I still get that roller coaster drop feeling in my stomach when I post the Reel, send the newsletter, or publish a blog post. In fact, it makes sense that I would need to rest afterwards because even if I’m good at it and it give s me a thrill, I get drained by promoting really quickly.
But what did rest actually look like? Other than sleep, I didn’t really know what “rest” meant for me.
Maybe this was why my weekends never felt restful enough, even on those glorious Saturday mornings when I can sleep late for a change and my husband gets up with the kids. But even then, I would wake up and feel guilty for not coming up with a better plan for relaxing and getting the reset I need on weekends.
So I brainstormed what I defined as rest:
#1 SLEEP
Preferably regular sleep. Not too much or too little.
LIMITING communications.
Take a break from the communications that cause a reaction (looking at you, Twitter)
Make the calls and send the emails I need to before going into rest mode
Inbox Zero-ish
Social rest
Something that fills me up: brunch or Zoom with my girlfriends, non-work talk with friends and colleagues
Church
Time spent with my husband
Introvert Rest
Going to the woods
Journaling
Yoga alone
Breathing
Skating
Movement
Spending time with cats
Self-care
Driving
Singing
Creative Rest
Coloring
Zetangle
Puzzles
Reading
Journaling/Brain dumps
Music
Choir/Singing
Mental Rest
Letting go of expectations and “shoulds”
Creating space in schedule
Slowing down and practicing mindfulness
Asking for the space I need
Emotional regulation and observation
Reading to observe and learn
Now that I had my list, I realized I needed to keep it handy for those days off when my only plan was to take a break, but I still felt like I needed to be doing something, aside from just scrolling Instagram and calling it “rest” only because it wasn’t work-related at all.
I have some exciting projects in the works this year, and I already know I’m going to need all the rest I can get in order to create and promote everything coming up.
Even if from the outside it may look like I’m not being productive, I know that incorporating rest into my creative routine will help me from feeling as overwhelmed and stressed. It might take some trial and error —I have a tendency of really taking to heart Newton’s first law of motion that “a body at motion stays in motion; a body at rest stays at rest” when it comes to my own tendency to want to stretch my breaks as long as possible.
But I also know the payoff of having the energy and motivation to write more, create more, and podcast more will be worth it.
If you’ve read this far, maybe you’ve been making your own mental list of what you define as rest for you. Whatever you choose, just know your mind and body will thank you for giving it a much-needed and deserved break!
How do YOU define Rest for yourself? Comment below and let me know 🙂
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