Author:Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
"Take a break and read Rest: you'll make smarter decisions, have better relationships, and be happier and more creative" James Wallman, author of Stuffocation
Do you regularly find yourself too tired after a long day at your desk to do anything other than binge TV, or scroll mindlessly through social media? Do you go on holiday and still compulsively check your email? Do you work through your lunch-break, often not even leaving your desk to get some fresh air?
For most of us, overwork is the new norm, and we never truly take the time to rest and recharge. But as Silicon Valley consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang explains in this groundbreaking book, rest needs to be taken seriously and to be done properly, because when you rest better you work better.
Drawing on emerging neuroscience, Rest is packed with easy practical tips for incorporating rest into our everyday:
- Go for a long walk to stimulate and sustain creativity
- Schedule deliberate active rest periods into your diary to try out new activities like painting or learning a language
- Stop working on a task when you know what the next step will be, this will make it easier to get started the next day
- Establish clear boundaries between work and rest time
- Take a nap during the day to increase alertness, boost your concentration and decrease fatigue
- Get good quality sleep at night to stay healthy, solidify memories and generate new ideas
When you rest better you'll find that it won't just be your work which improves - you'll have more time for hobbies, stronger relationships and you'll sleep better, too.
"An incredibly timely read for my own increasingly rest-starved life. This might be the book to finally persuade us that downtime isn't in conflict with good work; rather, it's an essential ingredient of it" Oliver Burkeman, Guardian
Take a break and read Rest: you'll make smarter decisions, have better relationships, and be happier and more creative.
An incredibly timely read - for this moment in history, but also in my own increasingly rest-starved life. This might be the book to finally persuade us that downtime isn't in conflict with good work; rather, it's an essential ingredient of it.
—— Oliver Burkeman, Guardian columnist and author of 'The Antidote'If work is our national religion, Pang is the philosopher reintegrating our bifurcated selves
—— Arianna Huffington , New York Times Book ReviewAlex Soojung-Kim Pang shows us how much more productive we can be by spending less time in noisy open-plan offices . . . It should be compulsory reading for office managers everywhere
—— Katie Law , Evening StandardRead this book, and you'll see how time off helps us learn and create better
—— Ferran Adria, 3-Star Michelin chef and founder of El BulliWant to be creative and get more done? We used to think only hard work was the answer. This beautifully researched book debunks the "work till you drop" myth by describing how intentional rest is crucial for being your best. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including neuroscience, the arts and psychology, Rest will fundamentally change the way we see work in the years to come. Give it to your boss! Give it to your work-obsessed spouse! Give it to your frazzled office buddies! A new paradigm of work is emerging and this fascinating book will be an indispensable guide
—— Peter Fleming author of 'The Mythology of Work'I love Rest. It places rest back on the pedestal it so clearly deserves and generously points out - through great stories and acute insight - things to reflect on and build into our own lives.
—— Rohan Gunatillake, Founder of Mindfulness Everywhere and creator of the bestselling buddhify appGood books are interesting and valuable; but the best books reframe the way you see the world, getting you thinking differently about everyday situations and assumptions. Rest does just that. With a fascinating combination of research and historical examples, your view of rest - as what you do when you are not working - is turned upside down. A thoroughly enjoyable, insightful and life-enhancing book.
—— Tony Crabbe, International Business PsychologistIn his Fascinating, well-researched and highly readable new book, Dr pang makes an excellent case for the critical importance of rest in our lives. You will consider how and why you rest in a completely new light after reading this book.
—— Wendy Suzuki, Professor of neural Science and Psychology, author of Healthy Brain, Happy LifeIt's high noon for the global economy's thinking class, who are locked in a losing battle for clarity in a crowded, clickable world. This book is a science packed call to arms: it's time to claim rest as a right and pay close attention to the needs of our beleaguered brains.
—— Anthony Townsend, author of Smart CitiesYou're holding some terrific advice in your hands on the virtues of walking, napping, and playing. Pang has written a delightful and thought-provoking book on the science of restful living.
—— Clive Thompson, author of Smarter Than You ThinkPang offers original and often inspired ideas
—— San Francisco Chronicle (on The Distraction Addiction)Amusing and edifying
—— Washington Post (on The Distraction Addiction)Skeptical without pandering to technophobia or neuroscience
—— The New Yorker (on The Digital Distraction)Ruth Fitzmaurice’s crazy, joyful, heartbreaking, romantic, raw and honest memoir is a work of art made from the heart. It swells with great love, high drama as well as hijinks, deep sadness and raw emotion… Sprinkling magic and stardust in prose that is far from sentimental, not afraid to confront the real and the raw
—— Donal O'Donoghue , RTE GuideA beautiful and often times devastating tribute to her family, her friends and the healing power of nature
—— Irish Country LivingMoving… If you love a triumph-over-adversity real life tale, Ruth is your gal
—— Muddy StilettosAn exceptional and beautifully written book about how love - changed but yet unchanged - friendship, frustration, deep despair and delight, can all be experienced in the same day...If you buy one book this summer, make it this one
—— Irish TimesAbsolutely brilliant… I highly recommend it – inspirational
—— Sean O'Rourke , Today with Sean O'RourkeUplifting and inspiring
—— Woman & HomeAs poetic as it is devastating
—— iLike the sea, the writing in this terrific debut is both bracing and beautiful
—— BooksellerLike the Irish sea that laps the coast at Greystones, Co Wicklow, this extraordinary, beautifully written book ebbs and flows with love amid the crises of daily life… It’s a powerful, memorable and life-affirming read
—— ChoiceA heartbreaking work of shimmering beauty that charts her own place in the world… As astounding as it is inspirational
—— Donal O'Donoghue , RTE GuideThis is far from a desperate tale and a plea for pity. It is an often uplifting and funny account of learning to dealing with hardship and how resilient and adaptable we can be in testing times
—— Jude Brosnan , Wanderlust Travel MagazineA true-to-the-bone and life affirming account of her life with a husband with MND, 5 young kids and her addiction to swimming in the Irish sea every day
—— Al Porter , Today FMHer beautiful, sparse prose gets to the very essence of what is happening with the various tribes. It is a moving book too, with several poignant moments. She is one tough lady
—— Paul Cheney , NudgeIf ever there was a lesson in living the fullest, most passionate life you can, this is it! I Found My Tribe is one of the most moving memoirs I have ever read. Living with her husband Simon, who was diagnosed with motor neuron disease and her five children, Ruth Fitzmaurice writes so honestly and vividly about her family's life that you will think about the Fitzmaurice's long after you have turned the final page. It is beautifully written with clever descriptions and vivid imagery that will take your breath away. Writing to the background noise of Simon's medical machines, twenty four hour carers and five children, Ruth candidly writes about her life as she navigates various different themes including grief, friendship and love and the strength she has in the face of adversity… I found my tribe is an uplifting powerful memoir that will make you laugh and cry in equal measures. I urge everyone to read it
—— Adele O'Neill , Irish IndependentBeautiful…There is huge passion in Fitzmaurice’s writing.
—— Sophie White , Image MagazineA surprisingly uplifting read
—— Arifa Akbar , ObserverBreathtaking, heart-wrenching, inspirational – I’ve never read anything like this. Educated tells the story of a young girl's escape from violence and emotional prison. It is about the love of family and the pain of family both, the ferocity of the human spirit, and the power of education to change lives. Educated is one of the best books, and Westover one of the most gifted writers, that I've read in a very long time
—— Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger MotherPowerful, moving, brave, naked and completely at home in its form . . . This is a daughter’s story of how she grew into herself and comes to understand her home.
—— Mona Simpson, author of Casebook and Anywhere But HereAn incredible memoir of triumph over seemingly endless adversity. The author's ability to write about her experiences in a clear-eyed, nonjudgmental way makes her story a pleasure to read. A study in the power and wonder of resilience
—— Cea Sunrise PersonEducated is a wise and deep reflection about surviving one’s family. I bow down to Tara Westover, not only for her marvelous, sentence-by-sentence craftsmanship but also for making sense and meaning from a confounding and hair-raising childhood. This is memoir at its best
—— Kelly CorriganEducated is so powerful, so haunting . . . [Westover’s] finely measured, beautifully rhythmic prose conveys the pain of trying to reconcile herself with being estranged from her parents, no matter how delusional they might be. Rejecting any form of binary thinking, she writes with a humaneness that comes partly from having suffered, and the book that grew out of that suffering is a rare and unexpected gift
—— The Irish IndependentTara Westover’s exhilarating coming of age story has only just come out and it’s already a classic … it leaves us readers dazzled and humbled in equal measure
—— Culture Whisper, Best New Memoirs of 2018An extraordinary tale
—— Red MagazineTotally unputdownable
—— Marissa Carter , Irish IndependentRemarkable
—— Woman & HomeA wonderful read
—— Church TimesA beautifully written, lyrical memoir packed full of incident and well worth a read
—— The Learning SpyA beautifully written account…fit to stand alongside the great modern memoirs.
—— Sunday TimesIt’s amazing. Couldn’t recommend it enough
—— Claudia Winkleman , Stellar MagazineA brilliant memoir
—— Lily Cole , The TimesAmazing and brilliant.
—— i Paper , Nina StibbeVivid evocation of a truly terrifying childhood
—— New StatesmanUnflinching and fascinating. Educated was one of 2018's standout memoirs.
—— RedIt's extraordinary and shines a light on the Mormon way of life ... fascinating.
—— Rick Edwards , The SunA powerful, jaw dropper of a book
—— StylistTriumphing over your background like spring triumphs over winter is always fertile territory for memoir. Perhaps the most exciting recently is Tara Westover’s Educated; she had a home life that is frankly astonishing, and how she ends up doing a master’s at Cambridge will make your heart soar.’
—— Jenny Colgan , GuardianJaw-dropping and so inspiring, everyone should read this book
—— StylistTara's journey as she realises her burning desire to know more about the world and escape the influence of her domineering father and brother is a true inspiration.
—— Hello!Absolutely incredible.
—— Ariel NicholsonAn amazing story
—— The Times, 20 Best MemoirsIf you didn't read this memoir when it first came out, do so, and realise what the fuss was all about
—— Velvet MagazineIt was one of the most interesting books I've ever read[...] I came away a lot more enlightened and educated myself.
—— Marie ClaireThis is a fascinating, breathtaking memoir that you won't be able to put down.
—— Good HousekeepingA really remarkable story
—— VIP MagazineBreathtaking
—— StylistEducated is devastatingly entertaining. Morbidly fascinating. Educated is, without doubt, an essential read.
—— British Journal of General PracticeI found myself forcing onto other people just so I could talk to them about it.
—— VogueIt's brilliant.
—— Donna Air , Sunday TelegraphIn her beautifully written memoir, Westover explores her complex childhood and her heart-breaking decision to leave her family and pursue an education. It is proof of the transformative power of learning and the importance of second chances
—— Harper's BazaarI devoured this book. I loved it . . . It's such a good book
—— Sara JonesIt's amazing
—— Alex JonesEducated is a shocking story of self-invention and the transformative power of hope, tenacity and education.
—— Elle, Best AudiobooksOn audio, I find myself enthralled and convinced.
—— Nigella Lawson , The TimesA truly inspiring listen.
—— Good Housekeeping