Rest shouldn’t be a reward. It should be a requirement.
25 July 2025
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees… is by no means a waste of time.”
, John Lubbock
Go to any platform on the internet and you will hear so called high performers handing out phrases like grind, push, stretch, and going the extra mile.
All fair enough in moderation, but here’s the truth very few want to tell you:
You can’t outperform your nervous system and you absolutely can’t grind your way to clarity, or creativity - if anything, you’ll get worse outcomes.
Rest isn’t the thing you earn after the work is done … it’s what makes your best work possible!
My advice would be to use recovery as a productivity tool.
Think of elite athletes. They train in cycles: stress, recovery, adaptation, repeat.
Smart people should do the same.
Don’t think about rest as just sleeping either.
Rest is also:
Time away from screens
Space to think clearly (without solving any problems)
Movement without pressure to perform
Stillness without guilt of “what you could be getting done”
If you’re feeling foggy, unfocused, or flat, it may not be a motivation issue.
It might be a rest deficit.
Burnout doesn’t always come from doing too much, it can often come from never resetting properly.
So my advice to you in this Coaching Corner is that you don’t always need to feel like you’ve earned your rest …
Get ahead of the game and protect it!
Remember, the path to extraordinary is walked with a thousand small steps, you’re doing great!
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Barry Marshall-Graham
Executive coach and leadership advisor
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