Around 2007, Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D., had a full-time medical practice, two toddlers and a feeling of exhaustion she just couldn’t shake — or explain. The internal medicine physician was getting sufficient sleep, and medical tests revealed a clean bill of health. Plenty of patients were presenting with similar complaints.
“I saw a lot of people who were trying to overcome burnout but were finding that sleep alone just was not solving the problem,” said Dalton-Smith during a joint webinar between AHCJ and the National Association of Science Writers‘ freelance committee on July 9. “It changed the conversation for me to: Are sleep and rest the same thing?”
Turns out, Dalton-Smith discovered, the answer was “no” — and her ensuing work to tease out the differences led to a “seven types of rest” framework and book, “Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity.”
“When you’re tired, what does that really mean?” Dalton-Smith asked. “And how do we actually overcome burnout in a way that helps us sustain high-stress professions?”
Read on for the answers — and more tips for journalists who want to understand rest better for their readers and themselves.
Use terms like ‘burnout’ and ‘stress management’ carefully
While “burnout” is used widely to mean some version of “I’m sick of my job” or “I’m really tired,” the World Health Organization defines it more precisely: You’re tired all of the time, you no longer find joy in your work and you’re producing lower-quality work than what you’re capable of. “Just being tired isn’t enough to say that you’re burned out,” Dalton-Smith said.
Similarly, the concept of “stress management” is flawed, she added, since stress is an inevitable, and often uncontrollable, part of life. It’s more productive to focus on stress resilience than management. Just like building muscle requires you to first break down muscle fibers so that they grow back stronger, “it’s not the stress I need to focus on managing — it’s actually the recovery phase,” Dalton-Smith said.
Finally, journalists — and patients — should challenge themselves to be more specific when describing fatigue. “If someone came into my emergency room and said, ‘Hey doc, I have a pain,’ What am I supposed to do with that? It’s no different when you say, ‘I’m so tired,’” Dalton-Smith said. “So I want us to change the vocabulary to: What kind of tired are you?”
Understand the seven types of rest deficits — and how to restore them
To answer that question, consider Dalton-Smith’s seven types of rest, below. Once you can identify which kind you most need, you can refill the well most effectively. Spoiler: Usually, doing so doesn’t mean quitting your job or going on vacation — it means integrating small strategies into your daily life.
1. Physical rest
Sleep is a type of physical rest, but so is active recovery like foam rolling. Even an adjustment to your desk chair so that it’s more ergonomically aligned with your body counts as physical rest.
“Rest is about restoration,” Dalton-Smith said. “It is not simply about cessation or stopping because you can stop something and still be depleted. Rest pours back into the place of depletion.”
2. Mental rest
If your mind runs 100 miles per hour when you’re trying to sleep, you’re struggling to concentrate or feeling extra forgetful, you’re likely suffering from a deficit in mental rest. One strategy for people in need of mental rest is to do a “brain dump” — or writing down what’s on loop in your mind — before bed.
“When you’re laying in bed at night and you’re ruminating, your brain is treating it as if you’re studying for a test. It wants to hold on to that information,” Dalton-Smith explained. But when you write it down, your brain releases that hold. It thinks it’s passed the test.
3. Sensory rest
The modern world can be noisy. Ambulances (or kids) might be screaming, strangers yapping on video calls on public transport or music blaring at the coffee shop. Household clutter or the latest heat wave might also be over-stimulating your senses. When we’re deprived of sensory rest, “our natural psychological response is irritation, agitation, rage or anger,” Dalton-Smith said.
Among her recommendations: Turn off app notifications on your phone or take time during a car commute to sit in silence.
4. Spiritual rest
Even non-religious people need spiritual rest, Dalton-Smith emphasized. “At the very core of spiritual rest is the need that each of us have for purpose and belonging, and a sense of giving back to the greater good,” she said. If you’re feeling lonely or disconnected, you might need spiritual rest in the form of volunteering for a cause you believe in, for example.
5. Creative rest
Journalists know what it’s like to feel creatively zapped after filing an in-depth feature or developing a roster of fresh pitches. When you find yourself in need of creative rest, scrolling social media or taking a nap probably won’t help. What will? Sitting by a body of water, listening to music or visiting an art museum — anything that allows you to consume beauty or inspiration.
“Creative rest is when you appreciate what’s already been created,” Dalton-Smith said. “There’s absolutely no pressure on your creative energy.”
6. Emotional rest
Journalists may need emotional rest after compartmentalizing their feelings while reporting a traumatic story or conducting a tough interview. “Emotional rest is [what] you experience when you have the freedom and liberty to be truly authentic in how you relate and express yourself to others,” Dalton-Smith said. That can be found in the form of a friend, therapist, journal or even musical instrument.
7. Social rest
Social rest is about recharging your social battery — not by isolating yourself but by seeking out the company of people who don’t deplete you. “Who are the people in your life who don’t need anything from you?” Dalton-Smith asked. “They’re actually life-giving. When you’re around them, you feel better.”
Of course, you may need more than one type of rest. To figure out where to start, you can take Dalton-Smith’s free quiz. “If you’re tired and you’ve been doing all the stuff you know to do to get more sleep, maybe it’s not a sleep revolution you need — maybe it’s a rest revolution,” she said.
