Today I Believe
Rest is not the opposite of work
Rest is part of the work, and treating it that way is more honest about how careers actually function.
An essay by Dustin Michael Drozd
There is a cultural performance of relentlessness that mistakes exhaustion for virtue. It is a short ride to mediocre decisions.
Treating rest as a tool — scheduled, defended, used on purpose — is how the best practitioners in physically demanding trades extend their careers and the quality of their judgment.
It is not soft. It is operational. The leader who skips sleep, eats poorly, and runs themselves down is making decisions that cost the team more than the hours they think they are saving.
Respect for rest is also respect for the people who depend on your next decision.