By Ed Paget, Atrium HR Fitness Expert

Do you ever want to just stop? 

Stop planning, stop chasing, stop working, stop parenting, stop thinking.

I do, and there’s a good reason for it. 

Our brain has different states, one of those states is the flow state. This is when everything works. Think of a musician in their element, an artist, or a coder deep in code. 

But, it comes at a price. We can’t flow state forever- it needs to be balanced with rest. Think of a sprinter in athletics. They will practice all-out springs (flow state) and then rest. In fact, sprint athletes rest hard – they take it very seriously. You won’t see them jogging or even walking fast. 

This allows their muscles and nerves to optimally recover for the next sprint. 

If we look at this from an ancestral point of view, periods of intense effort mentally and physically, like hunting, would be followed by rest. 

However, our modern-day culture doesn’t support this. Whether it is mortgage, car, phone or credit card payments, there is a constant pressure on us all to perform. We’re essentially jogging through life. 

Not sprinting and not resting. 

This is what causes burnout. 

This is one of the biggest problems facing the workforce right now. 

But the good news is that we’ve identified the problem and people and companies are beginning to take rest seriously. 

Sunsets to me are now my time for rest, setting me up for the transition to the evening and the wind-down to bed. 

What do you do for a wind-down? Unfortunately, a glass of wine might not count… 

BIO: Ed Paget