How Knowledge Workers Can Rest Better

■ Knowledge Workers: Catching Up on Sleep Won't Help Much

You've spent a day writing copy, hosting meetings, and when it's all over, you sigh: "I'm so tired, I need a good night's sleep tonight." Our common sense tells us that our first reaction to fatigue is "go lie down." But this is a trap. Sleep is indeed an effective form of rest, but it's primarily suitable for those with sleep deprivation or for manual laborers. For manual laborers, "fatigue" is mainly caused by the accumulation of acidic substances in the body. If extremely tired, a static resting method should be adopted. Through sleep, lost energy can be replenished, and accumulated waste can be eliminated. If not too tired, one can also lie down in bed, close their eyes and rest quietly, allowing all muscles and nerves to fully relax before getting up and moving around. However, if you work in an office, your cerebral cortex is highly active while your body is in a low state of arousal. For this type of fatigue, sleep has limited effect (unless you've been working overtime and haven't even met your normal sleep requirements). This is because what you need isn't physical recovery through "stillness," but rather something to relax your nerves. This explains why you might feel sluggish after staying home all weekend, yet feel refreshed after just half an hour of swimming after work.

■ Don't Stop, Just Switch

Since sleep can't help us rest our brains, what can? The answer is not to stop activity, but merely to change the content of the activity. The tens of billions of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex all have different functions. They are arranged and combined in various ways to form distinct functional areas. When one area is active, another rests. Therefore, by changing the content of our activities, different areas of the brain can rest. The psychophysiologist Sechenov conducted an experiment. To alleviate fatigue in the right hand, he used two methods: one was to let both hands rest motionless, and the other was to let the left hand move appropriately while the right hand remained still. He then tested the grip strength of the right hand using a fatigue meter. The results showed that when the left hand was active, fatigue in the right hand dissipated faster. This proves that changing the content of human activity is indeed a form of active rest. For example, if you spent 5 hours writing a project proposal on Friday, it's better to prune your potted plants the next day than to sleep until noon. Furthermore, when you can't switch from mental to physical labor, you might consider switching within mental labor itself. The distinguished French Enlightenment thinker Rousseau shared his experience: "I was not born for study; a little application wearies me, and I cannot fix my attention for half an hour on any one subject. But I can successively apply myself to several different subjects, even without interruption, and I can easily and pleasantly ponder them one after another. One problem can eliminate the fatigue caused by another, without needing to rest my mind. Thus, in my studies, I fully utilized this characteristic I discovered, alternating between different problems. In this way, I did not feel tired even when working all day." So, if you have several problems to deal with on a given day, it's best to tackle them alternately rather than finishing one before starting the next, as that will quickly exhaust you.

■ The Best Rest Rekindles Your Passion for Life

Our fatigue primarily stems from boredom with an unchanging routine. Therefore, the best resting activities are those that help us rediscover our passion for life and work. If, after completing something, you can happily exclaim, "Tomorrow is a new day!" then that activity is the best way for you to restore your enthusiasm and regulate your emotions. Unfortunately, we lack imagination when it comes to "rest." The only resting methods we can think of are excessive sleeping or mindless entertainment. We've provided a list of activities below. The basic idea is to solve "tiredness" through "doing," replacing passive indulgence with active rest. Of course, you'll need to discover the most suitable methods for yourself. In fact, if you find cleaning the house more relaxing than riding a roller coaster, then go for it, regardless of what everyone else in the world is doing.

Perhaps you could: ● Replace singing monotonous pop songs at KTV with two hours of reading a comic or novel that makes you laugh. ● Try skipping the bar on Saturday night, going to bed at 10 PM, and then waking up at 7 AM to walk on empty streets, or watch a morning show you've never had the chance to see. You'll find this day can be unlike millions of past weekends. ● Stop going to the same resorts you've visited countless times for fun. Find a street you've never explored and walk its entire length. You might discover that the city you've grown tired of still holds charms you haven't fully experienced. ● Travel, don't just change locations for entertainment. Go to a place with genuine curiosity about the place itself, with good intentions for your journey, and experience life beyond your usual scope. Don't just take a 5-hour flight only to play mahjong in a different place, swim in a different place, or play ball in a different place... ● Starting this weekend, learn a new skill, such as playing the electronic organ or drums... Practice for at least an hour every weekend. ● Socialize. Don't assume it's always exhausting. While it might be slightly more stimulating than reading, it can also make you more excited and give you a greater sense of belonging. You should spend two or three days a week interacting with people outside your work circle and relatives. This prevents you from losing your lively nature in the mechanical routine of a 9-to-5 job. Female friends, in particular, need to go out and meet with friends; during these moments, you are no longer a neutral person with "efficiency" written all over your face, but a captivating focal point with a flowing skirt. ● Do something challenging, especially if you're a highly stressed individual. Psychologists have found that a way to relieve nervous tension is to tackle problems that require nervous tension to solve. Once, a general manager on the verge of a nervous breakdown sought advice from a doctor, and his prescription was to become a lion tamer at a zoo. He fully recovered a month later. So, when you're under extreme stress, you can find another 'job' for yourself, but one that's not similar to your profession. For example, volunteer at an orphanage, start as an apprentice at a complex machinery factory, or solve an incredibly difficult math problem.