For most of us, overwork is the new normal and rest is an afterthought. In our busy lives, rest is defined as the absence of work: late-night TV binges, hours spent trawling the internet, something to do once we've finished everything else on our to-do lists. But dismissing rest stifles our ability to think creatively and truly recharge.In Rest , Silicon Valley consultant Alex Pang argues that we can be more successful in all areas of our lives by recognizing the importance of rest: working better does not mean working more, it means working less and resting better. Treating rest as a passive activity secondary to work undermines our chances for a rewarding and meaningful life. Whether by making space for daily naps, as Winston Churchill did during World War II going on hours-long strolls like Charles Darwin or spending a week alone in a cabin like Bill Gates, pursuing what Pang calls deliberate rest" is the true key to fulfillment and creative success. Drawing on rigorous scientific evidence and revelatory historical examples, Rest overturns everything our culture has taught us about work and shows that only by resting better can we start living better
If you're looking for a rundown of the habits of Great People, this is the book for you. There are a couple of recent scientific studies in Rest which were much more interesting than hearing for the third time that our great f(r)iend Churchill took naps.
I was expecting a much more pragmatic book. Too many of Pang's examples are taken from nineteenth-century aristocrats. If anything they just illustrate how landed gentry used to live, rather than illuminating facts about optimal work.
It seemed like a huge oversight that in a book about rest, meditiation isn't mentioned once. There has been some interesting research on how meditation influences brain states, which seems relevant to the "active rest" Pang describes.
Despite being part of the "creative class" that Pang speaks to, I found the book derivative, repetitive, and not particularly enlightening. If you're in a minimum wage or office-type job, none of the information in the book will apply to you.
