The More You Do the More You Need to Rest

The more you do, the more you need to rest.

Simple. True. Non-negotiable. And yet, as physicians, we’re trained to do the opposite.

We do more and rest less.
Then we judge how much rest we need.
We judge our need for recovery.

Most of us carry an unspoken belief about how much rest a “good” human should require—especially a “good” physician.

In medicine, the people who seem to need less rest are often seen as more productive. More impressive. Better.

So we compare. And we despair. Not because we’re doing anything wrong—because we’re ignoring physiology.

Your body requires rest and recovery.

The more you do, the more you carry, the more you’re exposed to urgency and intensity, the more restoration you need. That isn’t weakness. It’s biology.

If you want to think well, lead well, and love well over the long term, you have to mind your physiology.

That means noticing your energy levels instead of overriding them. It means prioritizing a positive energy balance. It means supporting a functional nervous system—one that can move out of fight-or-flight and back into a state of regulation.

In medicine, rest is often framed as complacency. Lazy. Indulgent.

But rest is efficient.
Rest is strategic.
Rest is sustainable.

When you’re depleted—when you’re living in a constant sympathomimetic storm—everything gets harder.

You don’t just struggle with life’s inherent challenges. You struggle about the struggle.

You feel foggy. Reactive. Stuck.
It gets harder to access creativity, patience, or perspective.
And ironically, it becomes harder to rest—because your nervous system is too activated to downshift.

This is one of the quiet traps of burnout: we need restoration most when it feels least accessible.

But when we begin to honor our human physiology—when we allow real recovery—something shifts.

You start to see possibilities again.
You rediscover courage.
You can think clearly enough to find the next right step.

Rest—not time management—is often the missing key to sustainable productivity.
And to a life that actually feels aligned: clear, connected, purposeful, and humane.

The more you do, the more you need to rest.