WELLBEING

The power of good, proper rest and how to get it

4 October, 2023 . 0

An alarming number of Australians are running themselves into the ground and it can seriously impact wellbeing. Experts say proper rest is the answer.

Exhausted? Underperforming at work?

Struggling to focus and feel like socialising and helping others is beyond you right now?

Whether it’s work, family, study, or social pressure, sometimes keeping up with the demands of modern life can leave us feeling like we’re struggling to keep our head above water.

The state of complete mental, physical and emotional exhaustion – often described as burnout – can have a significant impact on health, including sleep and brain health.

Stepping away from life’s pressures and prioritising space to get proper rest can help restore calm and balance.

Great ways to get proper rest

Rest helps our parasympathetic nervous system to calm and maintain healthy balance in the body.

Try these strategies to help reduce burnout and promote proper rest.

Start meditating

The results of a study released at the end of last year show that meditating regularly can help to alleviate burnout, even among healthcare workers who may be more at risk of experiencing it than non-healthcare workers.

“We conducted this research at the height of the pandemic, when it was a common daily occurrence for our medical colleagues to be placed in situations of high stress and uncertainty,” senior study author, Patty Lee from the USA’s Duke University School of Medicine, says.

The study found workers who performed two 20-minute transcendental meditation sessions a day, experienced significant improvements in burnout after three months.

Prioritise work-life balance

You might think tirelessly grinding away at work and skipping lunch breaks makes you a model employee, but all hard work and no play benefits no one, with research showing it has a negative impact on both worker wellbeing and productivity.

Start to prioritise yourself over work by establishing healthy work boundaries and unplugged hours.

Use calendars and apps to keep track of how you spend your day, and begin scheduling time for the things that bring you joy – whether it’s people you love, exercise, a hobby, or simply time to yourself.

Take a break from social media

Social media can be a good way to keep connected to friends and family you don’t see often, but sometimes it can add to the clutter of life.

Research shows limiting use of social media can lead to an improvement in wellbeing – an observation attributed to better sleep quality.

Explore the outdoors

This doesn’t mean a multi-day hike into the wilderness – you’re supposed to be resting, remember?

But simply being outside – whether it be a little time out in your local park – or something further afield, has been linked to a host of wellbeing benefits including lower stress, better mood, and cognitive function.

Have a warm bath before bed

Research shows doing that one or two hours before bedtime improves sleep quality.

And improving sleep quality may be more important than improving sleep duration, with another study finding that people who experience higher quality sleep have greater life satisfaction, more wellbeing, are happier and perceive less work stress.

The ideal bath temperature to improve sleep? According to the research, it’s about 40-42°C.

Wake up at sunrise

People who did that, in conjunction with removing their electronic devices at bedtime, for two weeks as part of a 2020 study, experienced both a reduction in burnout and an improvement in sleep quality, as a result.

More on achieving work-life balance:

Written by Karen Fittall.