Give Your Brain a Rest
I'm back on my bullshit!
Anyone who has worked with me as a coach over the past ten years probably knows how much I LOVE reading books about how the human brain actually works and all the ways our culture has perverted our relationships with rest, time and productivity. I am known to advocate for the 4-hour work day, actually getting good sleep, and learning your body’s natural rhythms rather than subscribing to some miracle morning routine that mandates a 4am wakeup in order to have a rewarding and profitable life.
Well, she’s back, baby! This time I devoured The Brain at Rest: How the Art and Science of Doing Nothing Can Improve Your Life by Dr. Joseph Jebelli, an author and neuroscientist. I’ve read many books extolling the virtues of doing nothing,1 and this one didn’t elicit any groundbreaking revelations for a devotee of the genre such as myself. 💁🏼♀️ But it did deliver a clean, concise message at a time when I desperately needed to hear it.
You may have noticed I’ve been MIA here for a while. I had plenty of ideas for things I wanted to share with y’all, but I was pushing HARD to get my novel pitch ready to send out to literary agents by January 1, 2026…considering that was my goal for LAST January before the Eaton fire got in the way. It’s taken me all year to do what I had hoped—probably too optimistically—to complete in one month.
So every word written NOT toward getting my book out into the world this fall felt like a betrayal. As the year came to a close, I wasn’t quite where I wanted to be, but was confident that with a little extra work over the holidays and a few long plane rides (I always get great work done on planes), I could still accomplish my goal by January 5—good enough!
Then, less than 24 hours after I touched down in Florida and a mere 2 hours after I’d last seen her, my Grandmother went into the hospital. She was transferred to hospice shortly after and died early in the morning on Christmas Day.
My priorities shifted immediately. My only goals were to make my Grandmother feel comfortable and loved as much as possible and to be present with and for the rest of my family during a difficult emotional time. Then it was off to spend time with my other 91-year-old Granny and, again, try to be as present as possible, knowing that time is precious and sometimes shorter than we anticipate.
Mission accomplished. But my book tasks were definitely not accomplished. When I returned home, I found myself struggling to be productive. And wondering if I should even be trying. Moving through grief is sticky and complex.
Enter The Brain at Rest. This book reminds us that rest, play, creativity, and even boredom and mind-wandering are vital to keeping our minds healthy.
In fact, having a rested brain makes you MORE productive in the long run.
But even if it didn’t, isn’t there value in being whole and healthy? Isn’t it important to be HUMAN and not just check items off a to-do list?
Here are a few of my favorite actionable suggestions from The Brain at Rest2:
Do nothing. Literally. Don’t even meditate. Just sit for twenty minutes and stare into space. It’s good for you.
Interrupt your work with frequent breaks. Look at a tree. Take a few deep breaths. Play with your Tamagotchi. Okay that last one isn’t in the book, but I stand by it!
Avoid rapid task-switching and multitasking as much as possible.
Challenge yourself to brave the world without constant stimulation. If you’re like me and you constantly have a podcast or audiobook playing in your ear, force yourself to spend some time each day sans input. Raw dog a walk. I dare you.
Try something new at least once a week. Try a class, take a different route, pick up a new hobby, cook a new dish. If you can’t fit in something completely novel, try just switching up your regular routine.
Get out into nature. Walk, camp, go to the beach and hug a tree. Literally. Hug it. I double dare you.
Exercise. It makes your brain bigger. Do whatever you will stick with. But actually do it. This also lowers your risk for Alzheimer’s, stroke, dementia, and depression.3
After I put this book down, I wasn’t quite done thinking about brains and time, so I revisited Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, a perennial favorite of mine. He reminds us that the to-do list will NEVER be done. We will NEVER accomplish all the tasks, whether they are totally banal or deeply meaningful and inspired.
Instead we have to make choices every day about how we want to spend our limited time on this earth. Do I want to spend it being 100% on top of every task and goal? That might sound great, but right now the trade-off for me would be shutting down my emotions, neglecting my relationships, and not giving my brain the space it needs to play and wander and be.
I am not a worker robot. I am not a perfectly productive AI construct. I am a human. And to be human means to be present in the world for our one short, precious life and to feel as much as possible.
So…
I could push myself to stick to my self-imposed deadlines, be productive, achieve my goals on my exact timeline. Or I could honor my grandmother by going for a walk, planting a flower, and watching a bird flit about with curiosity and wonder.
I know which one I choose.
Other favorites include Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell.
Read the book yourself if you want to hear more about the science of why these are effective!
I am body-neutral, anti-diet, and I think most fitness influencers are full of shit. But the science is irrefutable. If you want to learn more, I recommend Exercised by Daniel E. Lieberman.