Rest vs. Rejuvenation: Why Doing Nothing Doesn't Leave You Refreshed + What To Try Instead

As the new year begins, it can feel like you need to operate at full speed. Your top priorities seem like a never-ending list: All the decisions you paused before the holidays are back on your plate, and now, there's an added expectation to tackle new goals with just as much energy. Even more, there's an unstated pressure to create a fully improved version of yourself—as soon as possible.

Exhausting, right?

If you're already drained by just the thought of what's to come, much less how you might begin to achieve it, you're not alone. The majority of adults in the U.S., nearly 60%, experience stress every single day, and we're seeing some of the highest levels of burnout in recent history. It's no surprise that we want to spend our free time, whatever that means, doing nothing. Feeling exhausted doesn't just stop us from getting more done; it can also lead to a sense of cynicism, purposelessness, and languishing that negatively impacts all areas of our lives.

That's right, rest and rejuvenation aren't the same. While the definition can be nuanced, rest generally refers to a passive state (sleep, lounging, and so on). Whereas rejuvenation is a state of feeling1 renewed, restored, and ready to start fresh. Rejuvenation allows our brain to take a break as we repair and rejuvenate our emotional perspective.

For the most part, we're taught to cope with burnout by doing the former: stopping everything to focus on rest. While I'm a huge proponent of making room to zone out and daydream more often2, I can tell you that taking a full-on break won't necessarily leave you feeling refreshed.

Try this: Think about the last time you felt fully alive. Were you relaxing on your couch (while, let's be honest, simultaneously scrolling on your phone) or doing something that allowed you to feel connected to the beauty, wonder, and awe of being human?

While rest helps us slow down and recalibrate, rejuvenating, autotelic experiences help us feel restored and open to new ways of seeing the world. They are at the basis of feeling fulfilled, purposeful, and connected to something larger than ourselves4.

That's because autotelic experiences don't happen while churning through another item on our To Do list, or even using our free time to start a creative side hustle. And, even more importantly, they aren't something we can only do while on vacation or climbing to the top of a mountain. In fact, they happen most often when we are in creative flow (more on what that means here).

Enjoyable, autotelic experiences not only help us feel energized by what's possible but cultivate the drive to turn it into reality.

Now, I know that taking time to do something you enjoy can feel frivolous (and even impossible) these days. We are constantly forced to optimize all hours—and, when we're not striving for continuous achievement, our brain feels too drained to do much of anything other than watch a deluge of videos.

Unlike what we're often taught, creativity and enjoyable experiences don't have to last that long to have an impact. From a scientific view, it's more important to engage in shorter, more frequent practices than longer ones you try every so often. For example, rather than spending an entire afternoon painting, try keeping a notepad at your desk to doodle in between meetings.

Enjoyment is different from pleasure. In a dopamine-driven world, we seek out quick moments of pleasure, like checking social media or taking a bite of chocolate at lunch. Making space for enjoyment requires more effort—but it's well worth it.

Flow happens when we immerse ourselves fully in the present moment. And lately, it's been at the center of many boundary-pushing pieces of research in the mental well-being space6. Creative flow drives a new way of seeing the world and is at the center of change.