Writer Cliff Notes: Rest

Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

Apr 25, 2025

This week, I’m talking about rest.

This edition of Writer’s Cliff Notes dives into Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang.

When I started reading book (recommended by a friend), I thought it would simply reinforce what I already know (take breaks, drink water, don’t doomscroll).

I was wrong.

Instead, Rest turned out to be a manifesto, a thoughtful, science-backed, call to reimagine what it means to work well, live richly, and sustain a creative life over the long term.

Pang doesn’t talk about rest in the way most productivity books do (as a reward for surviving burnout, or something you earn after crushing a 60-hour week), he talks about rest as a partner to your creative process.

A deliberate act.

A skill you can get better at.

So let’s take a look at how we can rest better to write better.

Work and Rest Aren’t Opposites

We tend to think of work and rest as opposing forces.

You're either "on" or "off."

Productive or slacking.

You're deep in a writing sprint or you're collapsing on the sofa bingeing Love Island.

But Pang challenges that binary.

“Rest is not work’s adversary. Rest is work’s partner. They complement and complete each other.”

This isn’t a fluffy idea. It's backed up by a lot of historical and neurological evidence. Pang argues that some of the greatest minds in history—Charles Darwin, Gabriel García Márquez, Maya Angelou—were good at rest. Their leisure time was part of what made them creative.

And when you look at their routines, you see a pattern: bursts of focused work, followed by deliberate rest. This rhythm wasn’t indulgent. It was essential.

If you’re someone who feels guilty when you’re not "being productive," this book might be the nudge you didn’t know you needed.

The Resting Brain Is Still Working

Here’s where the science bit comes in.

When we rest our brains don’t power down.

Instead, a network called the default mode network (DMN) lights up. This is the part of the brain that gets to work when you’re not focused on an immediate task. It’s where ideas incubate. Where insights emerge. Where the brain files, connects, and replays.

Incubation is a phase of rest where the mind is wandering freely. Not totally switched off. Not laser-focused. Just… roaming.

Psychologists now know this kind of “task-unrelated thinking” is fertile ground for creative breakthroughs. It allows connections to surface that would otherwise stay buried under focused effort.

Your DMN is what’s active when you’re:

Taking a shower and suddenly get a book idea.
Driving on autopilot and solve a plot problem.
Walking aimlessly and connect two unrelated concepts.

“Your brain doesn’t switch off. It consolidates memories, reviews the day’s events, and goes over problems you’ve been working on.”

This isn’t accidental. It’s evolutionary. And it explains why some of your best creative insights don’t arrive when you're clacking away at a keyboard, they sneak in when you step away from it.

Which means rest isn't a detour. It's part of the route.

I explore this brain science and how to tap into it in a previous post - Writer Cliff Notes: Becoming a Writer

Rest Isn’t Always Doing Nothing

One of my favorite parts of this book is Pang’s expanded definition of what rest actually is.

We tend to equate rest with passive recovery, lounging on the sofa, watching Netflix, eating snacks. Basically my perfect Sunday afternoon.

But Pang introduces the idea of active rest, activities that refresh your brain by using it differently.

For example:

Taking a long walk without your phone.
Swimming laps and letting your thoughts wander.
Gardening, hiking, or knitting.
Playing a musical instrument or practicing yoga.

Physical movement is especially powerful here, not just because it’s healthy, but because it’s rhythmical, meditative, and displaces your focus. It gives your brain the downtime it needs to get weird, associative, and creative.

“For many creatives, their idea of rest is more vigorous than our idea of exercise.”

This reframes rest not as passive escape, but as receptive space. A place where ideas come to find you because you're not trying so hard to hunt them down.

I also love that it gives us even more of an excuse to get off the sofa and do some exercise. Becuase, let’s be honest, writing isn’t exactly an extreme sport, as much as we like to call our writing activity, sprints.

Rest is a Skill You Can Practice

Pang also makes a bold claim: rest is a skill. It’s not just something that happens to you when you finally collapse. It’s something you can cultivate and improve.

We’re used to thinking about training our attention. Training our discipline. Training our writing muscle.

But what if we also trained our ability to rest well?

Pang calls this “deliberate rest”, and it’s striking how closely it mirrors the structure of deliberate practice:

You set boundaries.
You create a rhythm.
You notice what works for you and refine it.

For example:

Going for the same afternoon walk every day, and treating it as your subconscious idea time.
Scheduling short naps after long writing sessions.
Leaving your desk while you’re still excited about a scene, so your brain keeps working on it.
Saying no to shallow work so you can say yes to deep rest.

Deliberate rest doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means doing something that restores you, mentally, emotionally, physically.

“Deliberate rest helps you recover… but also lets your subconscious mind keep working.”

Build Your Own Creative Rhythm

This part hit home the hardest for me.

Pang argues that what separates sustainable creative lives from short-lived bursts of brilliance isn’t talent or even luck. It’s rhythm.

People who rest well tend to:

Structure their days to include both effort and recovery.
Protect their rest as fiercely as their work.
Build hobbies and rituals that refill the well.
Take retreats or sabbaticals not as luxury, but as necessity.

This isn’t about creating a rigid schedule or productivity cult. It’s about creating a rhythm that supports your creativity over the long term.

So much of the writing advice we absorb is about speed. Write fast. Draft faster. Publish often. Post daily. Go viral.

Over to you

If you’re a writer who’s been feeling depleted, over-scheduled, or uninspired, this is your permission slip to stop pushing and start recovering.

Try one of these:

Leave your desk before the tank is empty. Give your brain a problem to chew on while you rest.
Take a walk with no headphones. Let your mind meander.
Nap guilt-free. Treat it as part of the job, not procrastination.
Build a rest ritual. Something that marks the end of your workday and cues your brain to switch gears.

And maybe most importantly, notice what kind of rest actually fills your cup. You don’t have to rest like a monk or a mountaineer. But you do have to rest with intention.

The more I explore creativity, not just as a burst of inspiration but as a way of living, the more convinced I become that rest is one of the most underutilised tools in our toolbox.

We talk so much about grit, consistency, and effort. But what if the real creative edge belongs to those who rest well?

Not just because it helps us avoid burnout. But because it helps us go deeper. Sustain longer. Make better work, and better lives around that work.

Rest isn’t a retreat from creativity.
It’s what creativity needs in order to flourish.

So if you’re stuck, tired, or tempted to push through—try stopping. Step away. Give your default mode network something to do.

You might be amazed what it brings back.

Will you be resting more after reading this? Tell me in the comments ⤵️