This weekâs issue started when Megana Rao suggested taking a look at this: Jason Heller on why he and his wife created a secular sabbath to do as little as possible other than reconnect with each other and recharge.
Everybody needs rest. Even you, person reading this who thinks fatigue and sleep are for other people.
Rest is a matter of perspective. Maria Brito wants you to consider that part of the reason you refuse to rest is you think youâre running out of time to achieve your dreams. But maybe your goals shouldnât have an expiration date? Rae Katz thinks part of the problem is we donât give ourselves enough time to actually do the things we plan to do, and we canât just see life as a series of attempts to optimize billable hours.
Mandy Brown takes it a step furtherâyou should see rest as a right. Donât just âconsume restâ by giving in to distractions, but find time other than nights and weekends for opportunities to replenish yourself.
And if you think this is a problem you can just caffeinate awayâŚ
Letâs talk about cortisol for a moment:
âUsually, our cortisol levels are highest when we wake up in the morning. This is, in part, what mobilizes us to get out of bed. This can also be why we have a tougher time getting out of bed when weâre going through an especially stressful period. Our body has downregulated how much cortisol it produces. Figuring that our daily stress will produce it anyway, our body stops its routine cortisol production. Studies suggest that those diagnosed with burnout have far lower cortisol levels in the morning compared with subjects who are not burnt out.â
â Chris Bailey, How to Calm Your Mind
Jaimee Bell gets into the details of how trying to jump start your day with caffeine wonât have the same impact depending on things like your cortisol levels. Putting it all together: If youâre not resting, that cup of coffee isnât going to make up for pushing yourself beyond capacity.
So what can you do besides sleep to give yourself space for genuine rest and recovery? Rebecca Toh suggests stepping away from the content firehose and giving yourself time to digest things youâve already set aside to read/watch/listen to. Or try practicing gratitude, taking moments like Derek Sivers to prioritize sending people compliments (and maybe helping them to feel recharged, too).
âOne of the reasons I have to take distinct breaks when I work is to allow the momentum of a particular direction to run down, so that another one can establish itself.â
â Brian Eno, (via SwissMiss)
Carve out time for your momentum
Take a break from your routine and prioritize your writing time!
Join us in our weekly Write Sprint thread to meet your Substack neighbors and encourage each other to keep going!
Whatâs a Write Sprint?
John wrote up an explanation, but hereâs the short version: Set a timer for 60 minutes, close down all distractions, and do nothing but write until that timer goes off.
Shout out to last weekâs Sprinters Hayley, Dallas Gow, Genie Leslie, Brian Matusz, John Harvey, and Aimee Link.
Are you new here?
Inneresting is a weekly newsletter about writing and things that are interesting to writers. Subscribe now to get more Inneresting things sent to your inbox.
For Your Consideration: Weekend Read 2 Beta
The original Weekend Read made it easier to read screenplays on an iPhone. Now weâre preparing to launch a sequel!
Anyone with an iOS or iPadOS device can use TestFlight to download a copy of this app in progress. Your feedback helps speed up the process of getting the best version of this app to the App Store.
And you can test it out using a library of For Your Consideration scripts from this yearâs Academy Awards nominees! Youâll find a library of these scripts under the Discover tab in the app.
Download the beta through TestFlight and let us know what you think!
Weâre continuing to refine the new features, and your feedback is a huge help!
Previously on InnerestingâŚ
In case you missed it, in last issueâs most clicked link Leigh Anne Jasheway checks in with other writers for strategies on finding a clear winner in a list of potential projects.
Other Inneresting ThingsâŚ
Ian Falles talks with WÄtÄ visual effects supervisor Robin Hollander about the work to create the titular Cocaine Bear.
Miriamâs Substack offers an overview of successful French protest movements and suggests what they have in common, as well as what makes them so successful at forcing substantive change in government policies and laws.
Manuel Moreale examines the idea of what would be a Minimum Viable Blog.
Reading the room
And thatâs whatâs inneresting this week!
Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from readers like you and the entire Quote-Unquote team.
Are you enjoying this newsletter?
đ§ Forward it to a friend and suggest they check it out.
đ Share a link to this post on social media.
đŁ Have ideas for future topics (or just want to say hello)? Reach out to Chris via email at inneresting@johnaugust.com, Twitter @ccsont, or Mastodon @ccsont@mastodon.art