The ability to relax

Rest is just as important as nutrition, sleep, and physical activity for well-being and efficiency. This is nothing new, but the number of people experiencing occupational burnout and constant stress is growing. Burnout leads to chronic fatigue, temper tantrums, headaches, and reduced immunity.

Knowing how to rest is a skill
According to a Gallup Institute study, 23% of salaried workers feel professional burnout often or constantly, and 44% feel it sometimes.
Traders or businessmen suffer even more from emotional exhaustion. They find it difficult to distract themselves from their work – they need to keep their hands on the pulse.

They keep dealing with work issues, driving themselves to exhaustion. There is no fixed workday, no delineated responsibilities.
Even when there is time for rest, traders don’t stop thinking about work, it’s hard for them to separate themselves from the schedule. When the default mode of brain functioning is work, rest is a skill that has to be mastered.

Why is resting so difficult?

When the day is scheduled by the minute, it seems that the time allotted for rest must be spent “efficiently.” Rest should be “quality rest.” And preferably quickly.
Herein lies the root of the problem: we treat rest as a task. This goes against the very essence of rest.
We deceive ourselves: we say that we are going to take a walk, but in reality, we set a goal to walk 10,000 steps. Motivation should not be in the accomplishment of the task but in the rest and recuperation itself.

We live in a culture focused on achievement and recognition. Faster, higher, stronger, bigger. Everything has to be under control, with no time to relax.
As a result, we experience stress and anxiety, which makes it difficult to relax, including on a bodily level. A vicious circle: the less you relax, the harder it is to relax.
Another problem is that it seems to us that rest has to be earned. To qualify for rest, one must finish a task, achieve results, or cope with a problem. The demands on ourselves are getting higher and harder and harder to earn rest.

The three key components of relaxation are.

1. Psychological separation from work.
   This is the state in which one does not think about work issues when not at work. Entrepreneurs find it particularly difficult to stop thinking about business when they are fully committed to a project and implementing something they have long dreamed of.
   Psychologists believe that regularly separating from work on a mental level is necessary.
   First, it allows you to fully relax. Disconnecting from work thoughts reduces the risk of emotional exhaustion and increases life satisfaction.
   Secondly, it affects the quality of work – the solution to difficult problems comes when we stop thinking about them.
   
2. Treating vacations as more than just another task
   Since childhood, we are taught that any activity must be beneficial. But to have a good rest, give up this requirement.
   If we tell ourselves, “You have to rest, come on, don’t waste time, relax,” we’re only experiencing more stress. Don’t aim to “feel rested.”
   
3. Pleasure
   We know what gives us pleasure, so we choose familiar activities for relaxation. It’s a trap: there is no set of activities that will always be pleasurable.
   Let’s say you like to read, and you pick up a book when you feel like relaxing. But what if today was worth going out for a walk or a nap?
   Don’t go on a binge. Listen to yourself: what do your body and mind need right now?