With so many of us working long hours to keep up with an ever-growing workload, and risking burnout just to keep up, the importance of rest is easily forgotten.
We avoid taking vacations and instead battle stress, illness, and the constant pressure to find time for all our commitments outside work.
An optimal rest interval for each work set is in the neighborhood of 10 minutes. Add to that all the rest time between your warm-ups of 135, 225, 315, 405, 495, 585, 675, and (perhaps) 730, and by the time you're done squatting, you're 90 minutes into your workout already. This recommendation has implications for your exercise menu as well. 'There are plenty of rest and relaxation techniques that you can do in under a minute,' Dr. For example, focus on the tiny muscles in different areas of your body for 10 to 15 seconds each, he says. Or every time you take a drink of water, think about how it tastes and feels.
But rest isn’t something to take lightly. It’s an essential part of doing your best work, being more productive at work, and is something more of us need to prioritize.
Americans are among the worst offenders when it comes to not resting enough. According to the Institute for Work and Families, fewer than half U.S. employees take all their vacation days.
And Project: Time Off, an initiative from the U.S. Travel Association, found Americans now take less vacation time than at any point in the past 40 years. And in 2014 Glassdoor reported that 61% of employees work during vacation.
We tend to think of vacation as an indulgence that we can’t afford, but as we’ll find out, it’s actually a necessary part of doing your best work.
Rest Time Song
Gary Oster, Managing Director of Project: Time Off, says “Many people don’t take time off because they think that it will negatively impact their manager’s perception of them. But, that isn’t the case at all.”
Employees also tend to worry about their work piling up while they’re gone, or being seen as replaceable. It’s also common for employees to believe only they can do their jobs, which takes away any option for vacation.
We don’t think we need to take time off
Beyond worrying about our workload, employees tend to be bad at recognizing the need for rest. This is partly because of our tendency, as humans, to focus on the short-term and our present selves over long-term benefits and what our future selves would want us to do now.
Though resting now by taking a vacation might be best for us in the long-term, we find it nigh-on impossible to ignore the short-term workload that’s piling up in front of us in order to take that break.
Katy Milkman, a behavioral scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, says that short-term high workload can also make it harder to make the right call for your future self. The more overworked and tired we are in the moment, she says, the more impulsive our choices will be—leading us to decide we just can’t afford a vacation.
Another reason Americans have so much trouble taking vacations is that it’s the cultural norm to work long hours and not take breaks. We all want to fit in at work, so if everyone else is working overtime and not taking vacations, we’re going to do that too.
According to David Dunning, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, work culture is quite different in Europe, where vacation and going home on time are encouraged. As a result, Europeans don’t feel guilty about vacation time the way Americans do.
If you spent some time in Europe, you’d think there are different ways to arrange civilization and work and family life. You’d get to see other choices are possible. A lot of Americans are stuck in the workplace overworking because that’s where everyone else is. That’s all you see. And unfortunately, in life, we’re channeled into who we are by what we don’t know is possible.
When Marilyn Kraut ran work-life programs in the U.S. to encourage more balance among employees, she said those who were adjusting their schedules were worried about the impression they were creating:
When people were trying to put balance in their lives, they kept it secret. They were afraid others would be jealous, or see them as lesser workers.
The combination of worrying about our work piling up or our jobs being taken away while we’re on vacation, and the constant reminders that our culture is built on work and not rest leave us overworked and exhausted. But it’s time we did something about that. Rest isn’t a luxury or an indulgence. It’s absolutely critical.
Why rest is so important
For me, not working is the real work. — Stephen King
Rest isn’t about being lazy or avoiding work. It’s necessary for our health and for being at our best when we are working.
Rest has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, and lower blood pressure and cortisol levels. Vacation in particular has also been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, and increase lifespan.
A famous study known as the Framingham Heart Study followed roughly 12,000 men between the ages of 35 and 57, who were at risk of heart disease, for nine years. Using the data from this study, researcher Karen Matthews of the University of Pittsburgh Body-Mind Center found that the more frequently these men took vacations, the longer they lived. And these results remained true even after controlling for variables that are known to correlate to a longer lifespan, such as higher income and education.
When the Framingham data was explored by researchers at the State University of New York at Oswego, they found that men who took a vacation every year reduced their overall risk of death by about 20%, and specifically their risk of death from heart disease by up to 30%.
Rest Time Clip Art
In another study of nearly 1,400 people, leisure time, including vacation, was found to encourage a more positive mindset and decrease levels of clinical depression. Research has also found women who don’t take time off are more likely to suffer from depression and, according to one study, 50% more likely to have a heart attack.
But beyond our health, there are other reasons rest is critical. From a business perspective, rest reduces the amount of sick days employees need. And with absenteeism costing over $3,000 per employee every year according to some estimates, it’s certainly something worth reducing.
Research also shows workplace performance improves after a period of rest and recovery, even among people who enjoy their work. And if you’re in a creative job, you’re going to need some rest in order to do your best work. A study from the University of York and the University of Florida found more than 40% of our creative ideas come during breaks and downtime, when our minds are free to wander.
Finally, you may actually be better off at work if you take more vacations. According to Project: Time Off, people who take all their vacation time are 6.5% more likely to get a promotion or raise than people who leave 11 or more paid vacation days leftover. While this is only a correlation, it’s worth taking note of. Especially if you’re a salaried employee with vacation time included—in that case, not taking your vacation time is much the same as volunteering for a pay cut.
While many of us feel guilty, uncomfortable, or nervous about taking time off, we can’t continue working overtime and de-prioritizing rest. It’s this constant go-go-go attitude that leads to burnout when our bodies just can’t go anymore.
Prioritizing rest and vacation time before you burn out is critical for doing your best work and living a healthy life.
I’ll leave planning your vacation up to you, but in the meantime, here are some tips for taking truly restful breaks throughout the workday.
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(a) For purposes of this section -
Calendar day means the period of elapsed time, using Coordinated Universal Time or local time, that begins at midnight and ends 24 hours later at the next midnight.
Duty period means the period of elapsed time between reporting for an assignment involving flight time and release from that assignment by the certificate holder. The time is calculated using either Coordinated Universal Time or local time to reflect the total elapsed time.
Flight attendant means an individual, other than a flight crewmember, who is assigned by the certificate holder, in accordance with the required minimum crew complement under the certificate holder's operations specifications or in addition to that minimum complement, to duty in an aircraft during flight time and whose duties include but are not necessarily limited to cabin-safety-related responsibilities.
Mac os catalina vmdk download. Rest period means the period free of all responsibility for work or duty should the occasion arise.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, a certificate holder may assign a duty period to a flight attendant only when the applicable duty period limitations and rest requirements of this paragraph are met.
(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (b)(4), (b)(5), and (b)(6) of this section, no certificate holder may assign a flight attendant to a scheduled duty period of more than 14 hours.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(3) of this section, a flight attendant scheduled to a duty period of 14 hours or less as provided under paragraph (b)(1) of this section must be given a scheduled rest period of at least 9 consecutive hours. This rest period must occur between the completion of the scheduled duty period and the commencement of the subsequent duty period.
Quiet Rest Time Music Preschool
(3) The rest period required under paragraph (b)(2) of this section may be scheduled or reduced to 8 consecutive hours if the flight attendant is provided a subsequent rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours; this subsequent rest period must be scheduled to begin no later than 24 hours after the beginning of the reduced rest period and must occur between the completion of the scheduled duty period and the commencement of the subsequent duty period.
(4) A certificate holder may assign a flight attendant to a scheduled duty period of more than 14 hours, but no more than 16 hours, if the certificate holder has assigned to the flight or flights in that duty period at least one flight attendant in addition to the minimum flight attendant complement required for the flight or flights in that duty period under the certificate holder's operations specifications.
(5) A certificate holder may assign a flight attendant to a scheduled duty period of more than 16 hours, but no more than 18 hours, if the certificate holder has assigned to the flight or flights in that duty period at least two flight attendants in addition to the minimum flight attendant complement required for the flight or flights in that duty period under the certificate holder's operations specifications.
(6) A certificate holder may assign a flight attendant to a scheduled duty period of more than 18 hours, but no more than 20 hours, if the scheduled duty period includes one or more flights that land or take off outside the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, and if the certificate holder has assigned to the flight or flights in that duty period at least three flight attendants in addition to the minimum flight attendant complement required for the flight or flights in that duty period under the certificate holder's operations specifications.
(7) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(8) of this section, a flight attendant scheduled to a duty period of more than 14 hours but no more than 20 hours, as provided in paragraphs (b)(4), (b)(5), and (b)(6) of this section, must be given a scheduled rest period of at least 12 consecutive hours. This rest period must occur between the completion of the scheduled duty period and the commencement of the subsequent duty period.
(8) The rest period required under paragraph (b)(7) of this section may be scheduled or reduced to 10 consecutive hours if the flight attendant is provided a subsequent rest period of at least 14 consecutive hours; this subsequent rest period must be scheduled to begin no later than 24 hours after the beginning of the reduced rest period and must occur between the completion of the scheduled duty period and the commencement of the subsequent duty period.
(9) Notwithstanding paragraphs (b)(4), (b)(5), and (b)(6) of this section, if a certificate holder elects to reduce the rest period to 10 hours as authorized by paragraph (b)(8) of this section, the certificate holder may not schedule a flight attendant for a duty period of more than 14 hours during the 24-hour period commencing after the beginning of the reduced rest period.
(10) No certificate holder may assign a flight attendant any duty period with the certificate holder unless the flight attendant has had at least the minimum rest required under this section.
(11) No certificate holder may assign a flight attendant to perform any duty with the certificate holder during any required rest period.
(12) Time spent in transportation, not local in character, that a certificate holder requires of a flight attendant and provides to transport the flight attendant to an airport at which that flight attendant is to serve on a flight as a crewmember, or from an airport at which the flight attendant was relieved from duty to return to the flight attendant's home station, is not considered part of a rest period.
(13) Each certificate holder must relieve each flight attendant engaged in air transportation from all further duty for at least 24 consecutive hours during any 7 consecutive calendar days.
(14) A flight attendant is not considered to be scheduled for duty in excess of duty period limitations if the flights to which the flight attendant is assigned are scheduled and normally terminate within the limitations but due to circumstances beyond the control of the certificate holder (such as adverse weather conditions) are not at the time of departure expected to reach their destination within the scheduled time.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this section, a certificate holder may apply the flight crewmemberflight time and duty limitations and rest requirements of this part to flight attendants for all operations conducted under this part provided that -
(1) The certificate holder establishes written procedures that -
(i) Apply to all flight attendants used in the certificate holder's operation;
(ii) Include the flight crewmember requirements contained in subpart F of this part, as appropriate to the operation being conducted, except that rest facilities on board the aircraft are not required; and
(iii) Include provisions to add one flight attendant to the minimum flight attendant complement for each flight crewmember who is in excess of the minimum number required in the aircraft type certificate data sheet and who is assigned to the aircraft under the provisions of subpart F of this part, as applicable.
(iv) Are approved by the Administrator and described or referenced in the certificate holder's operations specifications; and
(2) Whenever the Administrator finds that revisions are necessary for the continued adequacy of duty period limitation and rest requirement procedures that are required by paragraph (c)(1) of this section and that had been granted final approval, the certificate holder must, after notification by the Administrator, make any changes in the procedures that are found necessary by the Administrator. Within 30 days after the certificate holder receives such notice, it may file a petition to reconsider the notice with the responsible Flight Standards office. The filing of a petition to reconsider stays the notice, pending decision by the Administrator. However, if the Administrator finds that there is an emergency that requires immediate action in the interest of safety, the Administrator may, upon a statement of the reasons, require a change effective without stay.