We’ve all done it – me, you (reading this now) and everyone else at some point – treating rest as something we’re only allowed to have once we have ‘done’ our work.

But the work is never truly ‘done’, and so rest gets pushed back and postponed.

How many times have you heard someone say as a joke, ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’?

There are plenty of popular culture references to this; my personal favourite is from Nas’ seminal song ‘N.Y. State of Mind‘, where Nas raps ‘I never sleep, ’cause sleep is the cousin of death.’

Hard work and late hours often get glamorised, and this continues beyond school, into university and the workplace.

I remember vividly in university about friends pulling all nighters in the library.

Later it became friends and family members in certain high-powered careers staying up till ridiculous hours of the night (and morning) on an all too regular basis.

However, rest isn’t the opposite of progress, in fact, it is part of progress.

In tutoring, the same parallels exist.

Students push themselves hard, hit a wall, and can’t understand why their grades plateau despite increasing effort.

Then they take a proper break (genuine rest and not doom-scrolling on their smartphones) and as if by magic, everything clicks again.

Teachers know this too.

You can’t concentrate when you’re exhausted, and you can’t perform well when your mind is overwhelmed.

Yet we talk endlessly about resilience while ignoring the most fundamental part of resilience: recovery.

If we want anyone to work at a high level, they need space to recharge.

This means good sleep, time outdoors and proper downtime that remains (as much as possible) screen free.

Rest isn’t a luxury…it’s the fuel that makes all the other effort worthwhile.

Further Reading: Heather Cherry – The Benefits of Resting and How to Unplug in a Busy World (Forbes)