The idea of “rest” in the professional world is often synchronous with “need to take a day off”. While this is often certainly true, how many times have you taken a few days off work and returned more overwhelmed and less settled than before you left? Our May Deloris Jordan leadership initiative ‘lunch meet’ session offered the opportunity for social work professionals to think a little more deeply about rest and what it means to us.
There are different ways that we may need to restore our well-being – commonly people describe 7 different kinds – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, sensory, and creative. Claudia Skowron’s post on The 7 Kinds of Rest You actually Need describes each type as does the figure below. An 8th type of rest – cellular – focuses on dialing back on the sugar, alcohol, processed food that we may be taking into our body in excess due to stress.
Figuring out the type of rest you need requires some reflection. How are you feeling in your body? Are the activities you are doing depleting or adding to your energy? Are you expending energy pushing away feelings or working against your values? Is multi-tasking or too many hours on Zoom having a negative impact on how you feel? As leaders, we need to attend to our own rest – not only so we can stay strong and be the best we can be, but as a way to model this for our teams.
During our lunch meet session we reviewed the different types of rest and then spent time quietly reflecting on our own rest needs. Then we had a chance to talk in small groups. We shared that the process isn’t about fitting yourself into a particular ‘rest’ box rather challenging yourself to think about what you REALLY need. Further, how we rest is individual. An introvert might need alone time as part of her need for social rest while an extrovert who works from home might deeply need in person time with colleagues. I personally can find mental rest by blocking several hours of time to mono-task on a project without distraction. I also find mental and spiritual rest by volunteering on a farm on the weekends. And in 2025, I occasionally find emotional rest with a good closet cry followed by a walk after a tough news day. What are you needing in this moment? How can you find it?
The group then shared ideas about how can we craft work environments and cultures that allow ourselves and team members to rest and reset as needed. For example, the School of Social Work has created a quiet room with floor cushions, a sound machine, low lights, and a salt lamp. Spending even 10 minutes in that room just breathing on a crazy day can help reset a nervous system. Office overhead lighting can be a problem for some people so allowing desk lamps might help. Encouraging between meeting movement, creating meeting free days, bringing in plants to a work space, providing head sets or ear plugs, spending time reflecting on shared values, making space for crafts, holding a 5 minute dance party, and doing community service as a team are just a few ideas we generated.
Ignoring our need for different types of rest is not a badge of honor. Honoring our intuition and self-knowledge about what we need as well as that of our team IS leadership in action.
Life is not a to-do list. It’s a gift. Walk slower. Hug longer. Laugh louder. We’ve been conditioned to believe that constant productivity equals worth, but humans weren’t designed for endless output. We need moments of wonder, connection, and rest not as rewards for hard work, but as essential ingredients for a meaningful life. – Anne Lamott
