The real reason why we are tired and what to do about it | Saundra Dalton-Smith | TEDxAtlanta

[Music] have you ever tried to fix your chronic lack of energy by getting more sleep only to wake up still feeling exhausted if that's you here's the secret sleep and rest are not the same thing we have incorrectly combined the concepts of sleep and rest and in doing so we have dumbed down rest to the point it appears ineffective you see sleep is only one part of the big picture it's only one of the seven types of rest many of us are going through life thinking we have rested because we have slept but in reality we are missing out on the other types of rest that we need the result is a culture of high achieving high producing chronically tired burned-out individuals many of us are suffering from a rest deficit because we do not understand the power of rest rest is the most underused chemical free space and effective alternative therapy available to us every activity you do requires energy and most of that energy is not merely physical when your boss calls you into the office to discuss a problem you steel yourself for the potential conflict and in doing so you draw from yours emotional and social energy when you're stuck in traffic you're using mental and sensory energy to process your surroundings and when your teen asks for your car keys you draw from your creative and spiritual energy as you pray for a great excuse to say no the first step to conquering your rest deficit requires you to identify where you are using the most energy in your day then you can focus your attention on getting the type of rest needed to restore those specific areas rest should equal restoration in one of the seven areas if your definition of rest is comprised of sleeping or lying on the couch bench watching an entire season of a TV series you leave yourself open to chronic exhaustion it is no surprise that the workplace is a major source of stress in a recent study led by Deloitte it indicated that a majority of workers have no passion for their jobs in one report over half of those surveyed believe their jobs to be the reason for their insomnia according to a Stanford study the workplace is estimated to be the fifth biggest cause of death in the United States I believe our lack of passion our sleepless nights and our overwhelming fatigue are all the results of our uncorrect addressed deficits so once you identify that you have a rust deficit the next step is to learn about the seven types of rest and how to get more of each of them do you know that co-worker who comes to work every day with a huge cup of coffee he's often irritable easily distracted and has a difficult time concentrating on his work he struggles to brainstorm new ideas and is constantly forgetting things he seems like he's just going through the motions to get a paycheck when he goes home at night to go to sleep he has a hard time turning off his brain as conversations from the day Phylis thoughts eventually he does fall asleep but despite sleeping seven to eight hours he wakes up feeling as if he never went to bed this person has a mental rest deficit what is needed is some downtime for him to quiet his mind but the good news is he doesn't have to quit his job or go on vacation to accomplish this mental rest can be achieved by putting technology to work for you he can scheduled short breaks to kur throughout his workday every two hours these pre-planned breaks will remind him to stop and slow down long enough to calm his mind mental rest techniques can also include keeping a notepad by the bed to jot down those nagging thoughts that keep a person awake at night our burned-out co-worker is also in need of more sensory rest the bright lights computer screens the background noise of phones ringing and multiple conversations going on in the office can all cause our senses to be overwhelmed if left unchecked this can lead to sensory overload syndrome but this can easily be avoided by something as simple as closing your eyes for a few moments in the middle of your busy day next turn off the radio on your drive home from work and intentionally unplug from your electronics at the end of each day these intentional moments of sensory deprivation can begin to undo the damage inflicted by our over stimulating world the third type of rest is creative rest this type of rest reawakens the child like all in wonder inside of each of us do you recall the first time you saw the Grand Canyon the Great Lakes the beach or Niagara Falls allowing yourself to take in the beauty of these settings are all moments of creative rest but creative rest isn't simply about appreciating the beauty of nature it also includes time spent enjoying the Arts you can transform your workspace into a place of inspiration with images of places you love and works of art that speak to you you can't spend 40 hours a week staring at beige walls and expect to feel passionate about anything much less come up with innovative out-of-the-box ideas creative professionals understand this and that's why their office space tends to look like this and not like this now let's take a look at another individual this is that friend everyone thinks is the nicest person they have ever met it's the person everyone depends on the one you would call if you need a favor because even if they don't want to do it you know they would give you a reluctant yes rather than a truthful no they hate confrontation and would do anything to avoid it but when they are alone they often feel unappreciated and as if others are taking advantage of them this person is in need of more emotional rest so she can freely express her feelings and eliminate exhausting people pleasing behavior emotional rest would require her to have the courage to lean into the uncertainty of authenticity an emotionally rested person answers the question how are you today with the truthful I'm not okay and then shares the hard things that often go unsaid an emotional rust deficit and a social rest deficit often coexist this occurs when we fail to differentiate between those relationships that revive us from those that exhaust us research suggests we have mirror neurons that allow us to receive the emotional information of others so if you surround yourself with negative depressed people you will soon start feeling like them to experience more social rest surround yourself with positive supportive people make time for friends who want nothing more than to be in your presence and eliminate those relationships that are just virtual from being your priority and prioritized face-to-face relationships the final tie profess the spiritual rest was the ability to connect beyond the mental and physical to have a deep sense of longing belonging love acceptance in person and and purpose engage in something greater than yourself and your day-to-day routine such as prayer community so you see sleep alone could never restore us to the point where we feel rested for the past five years we have been discussing a sleep revolution and we are just as tired as when that conversation first began now that I've shared the seven types of rest it's time we begin to focus on getting the right type of rest it's time for a rest revolution thank you [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 53,399

Rating: 4.8090186 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Health, Biology, Creativity, Life Hack, Mental health, Neuroscience, Productivity, Psychology, Science, Self improvement

Id: ZGNN4EPJzGk

Length: 9min 34sec (574 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 09 2019