Working from nine to five, and sometimes longer, has become a familiar part of American life. Between work, school and other responsibilities, downtime can sometimes feel difficult to find. Life moves quickly, and it can seem as though there is always something else that needs to be done.
How many times do people think to themselves, “I wish I had more time to…”?
Busy schedules can make rest feel like something that has to be earned rather than something people need. Over time, constantly moving from one responsibility to the next can leave little room to slow down.
One thing is clear: Rest still matters.
Remija Serrano, operations manager for the division of social work, reflected on how American culture can influence the way people think about work and achievement.
“I think that it has started since we have adopted that modality and mindset of the American dream of just achieving everything that you dream of, and in order to get that… we have to work work work to get there,” Serrano said.
The pressure to stay productive can make it easy to overlook basic needs such as eating well, getting enough sleep and taking time to recharge. But what happened to that childlike mentality of “just five more minutes”?
Five more minutes to play. Five more minutes to sleep in. Five more minutes to talk to Jesus in the morning.
What could happen if people took even five minutes to do something they enjoy instead of immediately moving on to the next responsibility?
Alexa Comingdeer, junior Christian studies major, has experienced the challenge of balancing different areas of her life while in college.
“But there’s like three main things in college: one’s schoolwork, one’s sleep, and one’s friends. I think oftentimes or not, one of those will always be sacrificed… for me, personally, that’s sleep. And in turn, sleep affects everything else. So then in the mornings I’m slower and I just can’t feel like I’m putting all of what I can into a certain thing,” Comingdeer said.
The pressure of balancing multiple responsibilities can leave students with little time to slow down and process everything happening around them.
Busy schedules can affect more than productivity. They can influence the time people have to think, process and connect with others.
“It just doesn’t give our minds that space of rest and that time to slow down to think or process what’s going on. At the same time, just being busy 24/7 doesn’t really give you the opportunity to make connections and think about how you are impacting the people around you or how they impact you in turn,” Comingdeer said.
Between classes, extracurricular activities and other responsibilities, students may have fewer opportunities to spend meaningful time with friends or family.
Being busy, however, is not always negative.
Ulrik Strøm, freshman business administration major, has found that staying active throughout the day can challenge him in a positive way.
“It absolutely can be a good thing. Coming over here [to America], you feel that you have much more energy when you’re active throughout the whole day … and you feel that you’re able to take your body to lengths you didn’t think were possible,” Strøm said.
Activity can create opportunities to learn new skills, pursue goals and stay engaged with school, work and relationships. The challenge comes when there is no room left for rest.
Strøm reflected on the importance of making space for both.
“Even if you’re not a student athlete, taking time to focus on yourself and have in your routine that you need some rest, I think is very very important,” Strøm said.
Rest has significance beyond physical recovery. In Scripture, God rested after creating the world, providing an example of rest as part of a healthy rhythm rather than something to feel guilty about.
Serrano returned to the idea of balance, emphasizing that productivity does not have to come at the expense of peace.
“Having a full schedule and being very busy can seem inevitable… that you’re held captive to it, but I believe just as strongly that if you can treat rest and peace as crucial and important as whatever that busy thing is… then you can find ways to prioritize your peace. And I think it’s just as important, if not more important, to do that in those times when you’re the busiest,” Serrano said.
Life can feel busy and unavoidable at times. Work, school, hobbies and relationships all have value, but rest deserves a place within that routine too.
Being productive and being rested do not have to compete with one another. Sometimes the healthiest thing a person can do is recognize when it is time to keep going and when it is time to slow down.
