Syllabus: cognitive energy, burnout, and rest
This post was originally published in March 2021 and was last updated in September 2023.
“Professionals take breaks. Amateurs don’t. Breaks are part of performance. They’re not a deviation from performance.”
Energy & Burnout 101
Peak>Trough>Recovery is a typical pattern.
Knowledge and creative work are cognitively intense, so our energy for them ebbs and flows. These daily patterns can differ by person, but a good place to start is with Daniel Pink’s three-phase daily flow: peak, trough, and recovery. According to Pink, our cognitive energy peak is a period of high focus—a good time for deep work. When energy flags in the trough, take a break or check off low-energy tasks. Then, you will experience a recovery window, when your inhibitions will be low and your mood will be ripe for creative endeavors. (Hear Pink explain this concept on NPR’s All Things Considered.)
Beyond daily energy, it is also helpful to understand what burnout is (a particular result of chronic stress), how to recognize it, and how to respond. I recommend starting with the work of burnout pioneer Dr. Christina Maslach:
Why We’re Burned Out and What to Do About It, American Psychological Association Podcast 🎧
Energy & Burnout 201
To go deeper with Pink’s argument for breaks (and learn why to schedule surgery in the morning), read “Afternoons and Coffee Spoons: The Power of Breaks, the Promise of Lunch, and the Case for a Modern Siesta” in his book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.
To build out a bookshelf on focus, burnout, and rest, I recommend:
Oliver Burkeman, 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Motals
Emily & Amelia Nagoski, Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less
For read-it-today (article-sized) support, check out:
The Tiny Breaks that Ease Your Body and Reboot Your Brain, BBC
Burnout and How to Complete the Stress Cycle, Unlocking Us Podcast, Brené Brown with guests Emily and Amelia Nagoski 🎧
Graduate-Level Perspectives
Now we can begin to think more critically, add complexity, and explore nuance.
First, balance expertise on daily energy (which emphasizes male biochemistry) with information on other patterns.** Two to explore are menstrual cycles and ecological or seasonal patterns. For a book that explores the latter, try Katherine May’s Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat. For a shorter read, see “Creativity and the Natural Outdoors” (Positive Psychology News).
Second, I strongly recommend following Tricia Hersey at The Nap Ministry for a social justice framework of rest as resistance that is based in critical theory and is significantly more ambitious than the usual productivity narratives. Her book Rest Is Resistance is both haven and call to action.
For an activist memoir that seeks hope inside the heartbreak and exhaustion of climate work, read Daniel Sherrell’s Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World. This book is refreshingly honest about the toll of meaningful work, and it finds rest in solidarity that stays true to the movement.
Fourth…two excellent essays:
Jonathan Malesic’s “Taming the Demon: How Desert Monks Put Work in Its Place” was first published in Commonweal and later became a chapter in his book, The End of Burnout.
M. Cathleen Kaveny’s “Billable Hours in Ordinary Time” considers the damage done when we equate time with money. This one may be of particular interest to lawyers (it was originally published by Loyola University Chicago Law Journal), but it is relevant for anyone who monetizes their time.
Finally, two classics:
Josef Pieper’s Leisure, The Basis of Culture, which cautions, “Leisure is only possible when we are at one with ourselves. We tend to overwork as a means of self-escape, as a way of trying to justify our existence.”
Abraham Joshua Heschel’s The Sabbath, which promises, “There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord.”
Happy reading! I would love to hear about any titles you would add to this list.
*As a Bookshop affiliate, I earn a small commission when you purchase through these links + Bookshop distributes a revenue share to its network of local bookstores. It’s a neat model and IMHO it merits the switch from Amazon.
**Thank you to Milena Rangelov for bringing these alternatives and Katherine May’s book into my awareness during your recent workshop on creative cycles for Unmistakable Creative.