Common wisdom says that hard work is an essential component of success, but, according to forthcoming books, rest may be the secret ingredient.
Neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli’s previous titles have delved into Alzheimer’s (In Pursuit of Memory) and the evolution of the human brain (How the Mind Changed). In The Brain at Rest (Dutton, June), he interweaves science and his personal experiences with burnout to reframe rest not as the opposite of work but as the key to sustained productivity.
“It’s an old-fashioned, outdated view that the harder you work the more you’ll achieve and succeed,” Jebelli says. “Our brains just don’t operate that way.” Instead, he explains, research shows that when people truly rest, they activate what’s known as the brain’s default network, which improves everything from cognitive skills and memory to creativity and problem-solving skills.
“What this new neuroscience is teaching us is that people often succeed in life not despite their inactivity but because of it,” Jebelli says. “Doing nothing may actually be the most productive thing you can do.” That doesn’t mean curling up on the couch to binge a favorite show, which might seem restful but isn’t: screen time involves mental exertion and activates the wrong part of the brain. Instead, he recommends pastimes that feel truly effortless, such as napping, gazing out a window, or taking a long, slow walk.
Psychologist Nicola Jane Hobbs says her next book, The Relaxed Woman (Putnam, July), grew out of myriad conversations with clients who were overwhelmed, exhausted, and feeling guilty about their need for rest—feelings she related to on a personal level. PW’s review said the guide “provides readers with practical strategies for self-care while clarifying that resting need not mean ignoring obligations but rather doing away with unproductive stress to preserve energy for one’s priorities.”
Hobbs says that a culture of people-pleasing and relentless urgency has left many women depleted because their sense of worth is tangled up with their productivity. “Most of the time we don’t need to be living at the pace that we’re living. That’s the practice: learning to rest with our to-do list unfinished.”
In Radical Rest (Elliott & Thompson, May), activist and debut author Evie Muir explores burnout and what it might take to heal amid cultural and racialized norms that breed trauma. Muir, a domestic abuse survivor, worked for more than a decade helping women and girls in the U.K. who have endured violence. After experiencing disillusionment with and disenfranchisement from the system, they say, “it’s easy to be like, well, fuck this, I’m going to rest as resistance.” But they came to understand that rest, in fact, gave them the energy to pursue work they found enjoyable and nourishing.
In 2021, Muir established Peaks of Colour, an organization that leads workshops in the U.K.’s Peaks District aimed at helping people of color heal through connecting with nature. Muir says they continue to negotiate their relationship with rest not just in the context of systemic harm but in order to be present in the spaces they want to participate in. “Rest,” they add, “isn’t going to look the same for each person.”
