Understanding the 7 different types of rest to avoid burnout at work

Remote working has no doubt brought about multitude benefits. However, the new ways of working continue to be a challenge for leaders all over the world.

Employee burnout is a global concern. Remote-working employees are increasingly falling into unhealthy habits and lifestyles such as working late into the night, less physical activity, poor workplace set up and inability to ‘disconnect’. In addition to the work pressure, many employees also have kids at home and their spouses during working hours which can cause interruptions, delays, and increased stress. This leads to work life and home life becoming more intertwined resulting in remote work burnout. The labour force is at risk and proactive action is critical before business performance is eventually affected.

Many of us who are experiencing burnout (at work, at home, in our relationships) do not tend to recognise it, and do not know what to do about it. Leaders have a responsibility to consider the experience of their employees affected by burnout and to create a healthy culture that can benefit their entire organisation.

According to Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, a physician who specialises in the study of work-life balance and its consequence on health, the human body (and mind) needs 7 different types of rest to recharge its batteries, continue to function fully and avoid burnout.

The 7 Types of Rest*

1. Physical Rest

Physical rest has two components. It has the active component and a passive component. Passive being things like sleeping and napping. We need high-quality sleep. But physical rest also includes active things like yoga, stretching, using a foam roller, getting a massage, and making sure that the ergonomics of your work station are not toxic to your body.

2. Mental rest. Mental rest can be achieved by having short breaks throughout your work days, releasing your brain from a sustained focus on work. Signs that you need mental rest are a loss of concentration or recurring negative thoughts.

3. Sensory rest. Our senses can get overwhelmed by bright lights, background noise, and computer screens. To catch up on sensory rest, try unplugging from technology, listening to the sounds of nature or closing your eyes for a while.

4. Creative rest. This type of rest is especially important if you are working on solving complex problems or developing new ideas. Creative rest helps to reawakens the wonder and the ability to generate inside each of us. Surround yourself with images you like or immerse yourself in art (read a poem or watch a movie).

5. Emotional rest. If you find yourself easily triggered by others, you may be in need of emotional rest. This involves having space to express your feelings and being able to be authentic (not wearing any kind of “mask” to hide your true emotional state).

6. Social rest. We experience social rest when we surround ourselves with positive and supportive people (and no longer spend time in the presence of people that exhaust us). Even when working virtually, we can choose in which meeting we want to more fully engage or opt to keep our cameras off.

7. Spiritual rest. This type of rest is linked to our ability to connect to something bigger — a sense of love, belonging, purpose, acceptance. Meditation, prayer or involvement in an activity that feeds our soul helps us to experience spiritual rest.

These rest deficits affect how people function at work. It affects employee engagement, it affects their ability to perform at work and ultimately affects business performance.

As a leader, it is important to have these conversations about rest with your employees as well as actively support your team in taking care of their own well-being by getting the rest they need.

Interested in knowing the types of rest you need to focus on? Take Dr Dalton-Smith’s free quiz here.

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*Content inspired by content released by Saundra Dalton-Smith