The correlation between work and rest for a short period of time can be traced very simply. If you didn’t sleep at night, your head buzzes during the day, it’s hard to concentrate, it’s almost impossible to work ( I emphasize that here and below we are talking about intellectual labor).
But longer phases, the period of which is several months, are much more difficult to trace. Although these phases are just as real as the short-term phases.
So. Often, these long phases are not taken into account in time planning. A person naively believes that he will be equally productive all the time throughout the whole year. This “trap” falls into those people who are just starting to plan their time on their own: freelancers, individual developers, and so on.
Any active phase is followed by a period of "inactivity". The main symptoms that you have begun a period of inactivity:
- Productivity drops significantly.
- The thought process slows down. The ability to solve problems is reduced (I think this can be confirmed by IQ tests). Sometimes it's hard to remember a word.
- Lost interest in research, new directions.
- It is difficult to concentrate, thoughts are confused.
- After waking up, fatigue quickly sets in (after 3-4 hours).
It is worth noting that human physiology in this matter does not correspond to the accepted public opinion: according to public opinion, vacation is needed no more than once a year, regardless of the type of work, whether it is intellectual or physical labor. If a person is not informed about this physiological property of his, he begins to think that something is wrong with him, the poor fellow, and look for a problem in himself (to worry about this). Or go on the rampage and force yourself to work (which can lead to insomnia, nervousness, depression, and even mental disorder).
This is not the most interesting part. From my experience, I've noticed this:
- The onset of the period of inactivity depends on the load during the period of work.
- The exit from the inactivity phase depends on the quality of rest.
Required rest. If you have an active rest (spend most of your time in nature, away from the computer), then it takes about 1.5 months to restore strength. With passive rest (more sleep, participation in forums, reading articles / news, watching movies + occasionally doing something), it will take up to 3 (!) months to restore strength. In any case, do not count on a quick recovery of strength: the rest process is measured in months, but not in days.
What follows from this?
- When planning time for a project, keep in mind that your energy will run out after a certain time and you will need to rest. How many months you have enough - depends on the health and activity of the work.
- If you are not in control of your time and you are required to work 8 hours every day - do not work at full strength (that is, “shirk” moderately from work). If this is not done, then in a few months you will not be physically able to work (you may not make it until the vacation).
- How many months can you work continuously without a drop in productivity? It is worth clarifying the percentage of daily load (100% is when there is no strength left to do anything else, just fall on the bed and sleep).
- How many months is enough for you to fully recover after a period of inactivity? How does the quality of rest affect?
At this level of development of our civilization, it is generally accepted that the optimal variant of the ratio of work / rest is 11/1 (11 months of work and 1 month of rest). This scheme has not been confirmed by any serious studies. It was formed historically for physical labor and was projected onto intellectual labor.
I am convinced that the average person will not have the strength to work intellectually to the fullest for all 11 months (even 8 hours a day). Therefore, workers placed in such conditions are forced to “take off” in various ways (whether it’s smoking breaks, flames on forums, reading articles, etc.).
Since I'm here and I'm on the air, I'll do what I love. It's not work.
Jim Gabbert, founder of TV-20, San Francisco
When someone says that work is not work for him in the truest sense, by this he means: “I don’t need to force myself to come to work. I managed to avoid archaic formulations of such concepts as work, leisure and human nature. I have my own idea of the ultimate goal, which helps me combine work and leisure. For me Job- this is a joy, and not at all a difficult test, as they usually say. In addition, I am energetic and motivated - I am not at all lazy, unlike most people who, as I have been taught, have it in their blood. I don’t need someone to pressure me and make me work.”
After studying the professional achievements of effective people, I saw how important rest and guilt-free entertainment are for quality work and reducing procrastination. They recharge batteries, become a source of motivation, creativity and energy for all other areas of life. Knowing that your work will not interfere with your enjoyment of your leisure time will help you deal with it more easily without fear that it will take over your entire existence. Knowing that work on a big project will be interrupted by meetings with friends, sports and free time, you will be less afraid that it will be beyond your strength. You will know that you are waiting for breaks and support throughout the work.
So: in order to work productively and very efficiently on important projects, you must stop postponing life for later and give yourself completely to rest and restore mental and physical strength. You got it right: You can be more productive if you get more rest!
My first assignment as a new psychologist at the UC Berkeley Counseling Center was to meet with the co-director of a group of alumni who had been dragging their dissertations. We met every week to provide support to students in the intense, stressful, and often lonely process of completing the biggest individual project of their lives.
I became interested in the difference between those who took many years to complete their work and those who took two years or less. Surprisingly, the groups differed in non-intellectual abilities and emotional problems. The real difference seemed to be that those who took three to thirteen years to complete their dissertations suffered longer. These procrastinators with experience:
found themselves constantly busy at work, all the time occupying themselves with business;
thought of their lives as something "put on pause." They crossed out any arrangements from their calendars, leaving room only for work, and parties, friends and sports remained for the time "p. etc." ("after the dissertation");
felt that the work required sacrifice. It had to be necessarily complex; one had to suffer in order to work well;
felt guilty about spending time with friends or doing things in their free time. Because the work was not truly productive, they felt guilty because they were having fun and having fun. Therefore, they rested half their strength, instead of making the rest of high quality and not being tormented by feelings of guilt.
Many of them were in very poor physical shape, and their houses looked like a war zone: papers scattered everywhere, books, old coffee cups, dirty laundry. One of the students was wearing a T-shirt that said, "Don't ask me about my dissertation."
On the other hand, those who made progress and were ready to complete their thesis within a year found free time for themselves. Health and restoration of mental and physical strength were a priority for them and occupied a significant part in the general plan of work on the dissertation. They had to swim, run or dance almost every day. They had to have dinner with friends several nights a week. They were truly "created anew" - in the original sense of the word "rest" – so that you feel motivated and interested in your projects that require 15, 20 or 25 hours of productive work per week. They lived life to the fullest. They did not perceive their work as something interfering with them in any way; on the contrary, intense work and no less intensive rest went hand in hand with their enjoyment of life. They lived their lives - and did not wait for the completion of the project to start living.
One of the reasons for procrastination is the fear that, having started working, we will lose time for rest and enjoyment of life. But there is a way to get around this problem - you just have to put the restoration of physical and mental strength into your schedule. Giving rest a priority in life becomes part of the science of overcoming procrastination.
Adults usually treat rest and play as something unrelated to study and work. But the game is a fundamental part of the development of the child and his knowledge of work. Through play, we acquire the physical, mental and social skills needed for adulthood. Using toys and their imagination, children create scenarios that prepare them for work, relationships, and future conflicts. Through play, children express complex feelings, negotiate with each other, change contracts, solve problems, and learn perseverance, focus on work, and deep concentration. Some of the most basic and complex skills and jobs we will ever do, we learn while we play.
British psychoanalyst and pediatrician Donald Winnicott wrote in his book Play and Reality {20} that it is by playing that we test our creativity for strength and are delighted with the discovery made - this is a movement from ignorance to knowledge, from lack of control over problems to control and solution. Moreover, it is through play that we learn to work independently, with full concentration, safely and gradually moving from the early stages of enjoying play with mom or dad to enjoying playing with a toy in their presence and to independent play, while being absolutely sure that we are loved.
Adults use these skills to work alone and sit quietly for hours in front of a computer, at a drafting table, or over an accounting ledger. They use the mental and physical focus and creative expression they learned decades ago while playing in the safety of their home. Later in life, they will need this experience to cope with tasks that require constant problem solving, as well as those associated with the risk of making a mistake or being rejected.
Children have no problems with motivation. A three-year-old child will insist on being allowed to sweep the floor or wash the dishes. For the child, all this will be a game and learning. But this innate delight is lost when we are taught to adapt to social expectations and we understand that if we do not adapt, we will be punished. There is nothing wrong with being aware of social expectations; but what is really fatal is that too often we are told that we are lazy. As Winston Churchill said: “Personally, I am always ready to learn, but I do not always like being taught.”
Losing the opportunity to rest and enjoy ourselves without guilt makes our tasks more burdensome, depressing, and difficult than they should be. Recreation and entertainment that is not burdened by feelings of guilt can refresh your former fuse for studying, willingness to solve problems and participate in difficult activities.
Self-motivation according to the “carrot method”
We usually break a complex project into large pieces that involve long work alone. But the realization that we are waiting for a long isolation, with a high probability will lead to procrastination. This effect is similar to the sensory deprivation described in scientific studies and the experience of prisoners who were walled up in solitary confinement to limit their perception of reality. Both severely restrict movement and visual stimulation, leaving the brain in a restless state.
We are more likely to be productive when we anticipate pleasure and success rather than isolation and anxiety. Having to work for twenty or even just four hours, being locked in four walls, can hardly motivate anyone, especially if there are many more pleasant alternative activities around. If you have the choice of filling out tax papers or meeting up with an old friend, the odds will definitely be on the side of the old friend (unless, of course, you have a strategy).
What is closer to you in search of motivation to get started: do you push yourself towards the goal with threats, or is the goal itself beckoning to you? Unfortunately, most people use the "whip method" for motivation and don't know that there are alternatives.
In any of the vast number of areas of activity (military, business or study), we are all subject to fear - and the "whip method" uses the fear of punishment. But the fact is that a random action provoked by punishment or fear does not lead to a goal - rather, its goal is to avoid fear. Such punishment tactics often have a paralyzing rather than a motivating effect. Too often this harsh method is used to exercise power and control, rather than to create positive results. The use of threats by people in power often ruins everything and leads to procrastination, leading to defiance, fear of failure and, at the same time, fear of success. Here are typical examples:
"Private Jones, if you don't finish peeling your potato ration by 5:00 p.m., you won't be going on leave for the next six months."
“The company needs to earn $200,000 in payroll this month or everyone will have to find a new job.”
"If you don't increase the number of clients you see daily to at least fifteen, we will have to close the center."
“By the end of the semester, you should have read the entire shelf of books; and by the end of the course, an entire wall filled with bookshelves.”
On the contrary, the “carrot method” suggests that we are naturally inquisitive, and if we are properly rewarded for our efforts, then we will successfully cope with even the most difficult task. Enlightened people, endowed with power, can say this:
“Private Jones, for each bucket of peeled potatoes, you will earn an additional leave of absence. If you can finish your workload by 5 p.m., you'll get an extra weekend pass."
“We need to earn two hundred thousand dollars to pay salaries this month. This means that we will all need to put in extra effort so that we can breathe more freely next month. I'd love to hear your ideas on how we can increase the number of contracts awarded and grow sales by at least ten percent."
“This week you will learn how to keep the client on topic and politely end the meeting faster. In two weeks, you will have enough time to comfortably meet fifteen clients a day.”
“Imagine that after reading one chapter in your textbook, you put it on this empty shelf. Chapter by chapter and book by book, you will fill the entire shelf by the end of the first semester. By the time you finish, you'll have read enough books to fill the shelves on this entire wall."
The "carrot method" recognizes that distant and uncertain awards, such as possible work after four years of study, are hardly able to sufficiently motivate a person to perform complex tasks for a long time. The promise of future rewards for hard work has little bearing on what we should be doing now. But immediate and well-defined rewards, such as free time, meeting friends, can be an incentive.
This model shows how unlikely it is that you will start working on a task where the immediate results will be loneliness and fatigue, and the reward is lost in the distant future. And the likelihood that you will immerse yourself in this work, and not indulge in relaxation in your free time, is even less. Fun, idleness and gluttony bring pleasure immediately, and retribution comes only in the distant future. In other words, in order to control your work habits, you need to shorten the periods of work themselves, making them shorter (and less painful), and making rewards more frequent and more enjoyable.
Therefore, you need to organize your reward system in such a way that you encourage yourself to work on a task every day. If you are a manager, then you need to reorganize the working environment around you so that employees get satisfaction from working together, having a common goal, helping other people, and from the compliments they receive for their success on a weekly basis. In addition, they must be sure that their work will be accurately paid every month.
Even those who work tirelessly for religious reasons have a sacred day of rest. In addition to performing religious rites on the weekend, people seem to be reborn, and are able to work more next week.
When I met Jeff, a 35-year-old professor, he was frustrated that he wasn't as passionate about his profession as he thought he should be. Jeff wanted to read more specialized literature and publish in one of the professional magazines. But no matter how hard he tried, over the past three years he had not been able to write a single scientific paper, and Jeff began to perceive himself as a lazy and procrastinator. At first, he was a perfect example of how ineffective motivation based on the “whip method” can be. And then he also became an example of how guilt-free rest and entertainment, as well as motivation based on "carrots", can make quality work.
Jeff felt guilty about not contributing to the development of his field and felt pressured by his peers to publish. At the same time, he did not at all want to spend long hours reading scientific journals and writing academic papers, but he tried (almost unsuccessfully) to write by hook or by crook, intimidating himself.
I realized that we needed a completely new strategy that does not involve any pressure. So I offered him something that I knew would both shock and intrigue a smart guy like Jeff. I advised him to stop all this torture that leads to frustration and procrastination: "Relax a little and do what you really love - something that you have wanted to do for a very long time." After going through a list that included windsurfing, skiing, singing, tap dancing and music lessons, Jeff settled on the local theater - he wanted to try his hand at acting.
He auditioned and got a small but important role in a play. Jeff soon found himself putting in twenty to thirty hours a week of rehearsals. And that meant that during the next two months of rehearsals, which culminated in the performance itself, he would not have time for empty thoughts, and the feeling of guilt over the unwritten article was reduced.
Jeff enjoyed acting so much that he managed to find twenty free hours a week - and the energy that acting required - to work hard and meet the requirements of the production director and the rest of the troupe.
The play was a success, but for Jeff, the pleasure he received was more important. The absolute immersion in what he did was like the vacation he had dreamed of for so long. And at the same time, in a sense, he did a good job; after all, he spent enough time on the theater weekly that his participation in the play could be considered a part-time job. Jeff felt rested and satisfied because he did this job with love, and was ready to do it with the same pleasure every day.
In addition, life during these two months became something other than just an attempt to work, accompanied by a sense of guilt due to the inability to achieve the goals. Jeff clearly realized that he could decide on something new and find the time for it. But when work on the play was completed, Jeff, whatever one may say, plunged into a slight depression. He certainly achieved one of his life goals, which was amazing, but it wasn't something to keep doing. Jeff realized that working on a play required a responsible attitude, a lot of time and concentration. And that meant that he had to sacrifice some of his other pursuits. And now he felt empty because he didn't have those twenty-odd hours a week of intensive work and the satisfaction that came with it.
Jeff now knew that by adding twenty or thirty hours to his schedule over the course of two months, he could find plenty of time to write the article as well. But first he will have to change his attitude towards this big task. Jeff understood how important it was to have something he loved to do during the week in order to lessen the feeling of being overwhelmed and dissatisfied while working on the project. He stopped treating the task as something that required all his time, and realized that he could allocate a certain amount of time to complete it - ten to twenty hours a week.
Jeff revised his schedule, allocating time in it for sports and meeting with friends. And this enabled him to see clearly that the periods of work in complete solitude should be short and concentrated. Fueled by his newfound ability to enjoy life, Jeff returned to work on the article.
Finding ten hours a week to write an article was relatively easy after twenty hours of rehearsal had been found. It was still difficult to sit down and get started, but as he devoted time to the article during his work day, Jeff soon noticed that it was taking shape. Now all he had to do was maintain his natural interest in the subject, and that should have led him to complete the project—to pull him up to a goal that he now saw was achievable.
Jeff has found a way to bring article writing back into his life without having to deal with it as a burden. And after a few months it could be sent to the magazine. At first, the article was rejected, but after revision it was accepted for publication.
The life of a modern person is oversaturated with many things to do and impressions. During the day, he strives to do as much as possible: to fulfill the maximum production duties, conduct the necessary negotiations, go to the store, chat with loved ones. Time is chronically lacking, and a person solves everyday tasks, denying himself rest. Such an approach cannot but affect health. Most people of working age are constantly tired, which leads to the development of chronic diseases over the years. Today we will talk about how to learn how to organize effective rest, sufficient to protect the body from the harm that the rapid rhythm of life causes to health.
Source: depositphotos.com
We do not strive to work to the point of exhaustion
Each of us periodically faces a situation where the work is not finished, but there is no strength left. Usually we try to convince ourselves that we need to be patient a little and see it through to the end. Such a decision is wrong. We start to rush, make mistakes; the final stage of the work turns out to be crumpled, and its result leaves much to be desired.
The trouble is that fatigue accumulates, so you can’t work to exhaustion. It is much more correct to take a break and recuperate than to finish the job, overpowering yourself, in a hurry and making mistakes.
Source: depositphotos.com
We change the type of activity
It really helps. By moving from physical work to mental work, we give tired muscles the opportunity to relax and restore strength. By moving from intellectual to mechanical work, we provide the brain with the breaks it needs and load a variety of information that allows us to distract and relieve tension.
Unfortunately, not every position allows frequent switching of this kind, but this should be strived for. Otherwise, continuous activity of the same type will inevitably lead to a decrease in working capacity and a deterioration in the quality of work.
Source: depositphotos.com
Keeping a good night's sleep
Everyone knows that a person should sleep at least 7-8 hours a day. However, much depends on the quality of night rest. To fully restore strength, you must:
- fall asleep quickly. This is far from always possible, since daytime impressions prevent the brain from relaxing. Walking in the fresh air, a warm shower, listening to quiet, unobtrusive music, reading fiction help to remove excessive excitement;
- relax in a well-ventilated quiet darkened room. It is useful to keep indoor plants in the bedroom that improve the composition of the air (lavender, chlorophytum, kalanchoe, spathiphyllum, etc.), or light an aroma lamp with essential oils of laurel, bergamot, sage, vanilla, coniferous or citrus plants before going to bed;
- sleep on a comfortable bed;
- use bedding made from natural fabrics;
- wake up slowly, gradually prepare the body for a new day.
Source: depositphotos.com
Taking breaks during work hours
For the first time feeling tired in the midst of a working day, many begin to think that they are not all right with their health. This is not so: labor activity has quite natural periods of ups and downs, and from time to time it is normal to feel the need for rest. The problem is that most people ignore these sensations, continuing to work through force. There are several reasons for this behavior: some are afraid of not having time to do all the planned work, others do not dare to take even a short break, fearing a negative reaction from their superiors or colleagues. In fact, such fears are meaningless. Increasing fatigue has a much worse effect on the results of the production process than the loss of time for a short rest. A competent leader knows this and does not seek to force employees to work all day without a break. It is not only possible, but necessary, to take short breaks from work periodically.
If your work is related to the use of a computer, 10 minutes of each working hour should be held away from the monitor. This will help maintain vision and maintain focus throughout the day. Any work associated with the need to maintain the same position for a long time must be interrupted once every 1.5-2 hours by a small physical workout. Breathing exercises and wiping the face and hands with cool water relieve fatigue very well. It is important that breaks in work are regular and occur at the same time every day. Then the body will get used to increased activity during working periods.
During the lunch break, you should try not only to eat, but also to restore strength. "Progressive" employers equip special rooms designed for employees to relax. There you can safely read, talk and even take a nap. If your organization does not yet have such a room, you should not return to the workplace immediately after eating - it is better to take a walk and make full use of the lunch break for relaxation.
Source: depositphotos.com
Organize weekend getaways
On weekends, they usually plan those things that cannot be done on weekdays: big cleaning, large-scale purchases. Of course, you can’t do without this, but you shouldn’t devote all the time intended to distract from work to such activities.
It is important to reserve one of the days off in advance for communication with children, going out into nature, meeting with family and friends, cultural recreation. Choose only those activities that you like: by agreeing to go somewhere for the company, you doom yourself to several hours of boredom and subsequent regrets about the wasted time. A full restoration of strength is possible only when a person enjoys the rest.
After a certain amount of physical or mental work, our body requires rest in order to restore the expended forces and substances. Therefore, not without reason, it is compared with a factory, in which, as is known, the joint work of all machines and apparatuses is required to obtain this or that product. And in our body, namely in the chest and abdominal cavities, there are many apparatuses, organs that work harmoniously together and produce a special product in the form of bodily and mental well-being. Like factory machines that require a break in work in order to avoid too rapid wear and tear, the organs of the human body feel an urgent need to stop working after a certain period of activity. The difference lies only in the fact that in the human body in the functions of the organs there is no complete rest, but only changes in the nature of the functions of individual organs, since a complete stop of all mental and bodily functions would be tantamount to death.
If a person does not want to undergo serious consequences that are harmful to his health, then he must give himself up to rest at a certain time, since the needs for the latter must be satisfied to the same extent as the needs to satisfy hunger, move, etc. Peace is rest , and already one variety in work, its change brings rest. Whether we are engaged in mental or physical work, we are almost always forced to continue more or less long all the same work, and all one-sidedness, all monotony is harmful to our organism, and we need a suitable variety of our activities. Depending on the type of occupation, after continuous sitting or standing, we already involuntarily feel the need for a certain change and try to satisfy our desire by changing the position of the body, starting to move, etc. Prolonged mental occupation with the same subject equally tires us, and we we replace one mental work with another, or we take up physical work. Whoever is compelled to remain in the same room all day long refreshes himself physically and mentally by moving to another room where he breathes different air, but he will do even better if he moves in the open air. We relax by changing the environment around us. The morbid influence of prisons, correctional institutions, etc., on their inhabitants largely depends on the uniformity of the environment, on the complete impossibility of changing it.
Professor Dr. Gustav Jaeger reports the following interesting data. “After a person has been in a closed room for a long time, open air is a real pleasure for him, and that the reason for this is not only that the air in the room was bad, but the open air is good, this is proved by the opposite example. Thus, if a person has spent a whole day or even several days outdoors, as happens on a campaign, he welcomes the stinkiest slum with joy, because this is a change that brings him out of a weary state of equilibrium. You can also be convinced of the same thing by taking a long walk on foot: when a walker walks through the fields for a long time, he joyfully inhales the forest air, and, conversely, after spending a long time in the forest air, he feels pleasure and special lightness when he goes out into the open field. . Circumstance alone should awaken us to regard the change of air as a moment of repose, and to recognize that for a person who is always in a room, a daily walk in the open air is an essential necessity. However, one should not think that this is enough to keep a person working at full strength. The body has a remarkable ability to get used to even changes, if only a certain rhythm, a certain periodicity is observed in their repetition, and this adaptation is tantamount to a decrease in vital energy. Under the influence of the "man of habit" one hardly always understands a person with greater efficiency and especially strong health, but more often a person with reduced vital energy. From this it is clear that a daily walk, which has become a habit, is still not enough; to the daily change of air it is necessary to add a weekly one (holiday country walks) and, finally, long semi-annual or at least annual, such as, for example, vacation trips, visits to resorts, etc. The richer this variety, the fresher the body remains, and with it and mind.
In view of this, it is impossible not to welcome the great progress in this respect, expressed in the organization of summer school trips, in the establishment of dacha colonies and in the foundation by the hospital funds of large cities of special shelters in mountainous areas for convalescents, etc. Thanks to this, if not all, then at least many will be able to experience the beneficial effects of the change of air and restore their health.
What benefit the dacha colonies bring to the children of the poorest inhabitants of the cities, is evident from the recent excellent, most cordially written report of one of Kleberg's Leipzig teachers. Among other things, he said: “In every city there are children who are weak and frail from birth. But there is no doubt that the hustle and bustle of life in big cities has a disastrous effect on the mental warehouse. Therefore, the goal of dacha colonies is to strengthen not only the physical, but also the spiritual system of children. Water and forest, a good table, gentle treatment, movement in the open air and conversation during games should produce this improvement. Many children learn here for the first time what nutritious food means and get used to long walks, thanks to which they gain weight. The intellectual and moral influence, teaching children to be neat, also has a far considerable price. Visual education in the field and in the forest, in turn, does its job and expands the mental horizons of children. Some children who lead a homeless life on the street are reborn morally in the silence of the mountain landscape. Healthy children tend to be good. Being healthy and good is just as natural as being good and contented.”
From a hygienic point of view, Sunday rest is also very important, now introduced by law, but still arousing energetic opposition among many merchants; whether these latter are right or not, we shall not concern ourselves with this here. Apart from the fact that religious institutions and customs since the creation of the world prescribe rest on the seventh day of the week, such an experience seems necessary from a physiological point of view. According to the views of physiology, efficiency is a kind of elastic force that acts for six days, but needs to be weakened on the seventh day, if only they want it to develop its activity again with the same energy on the next working days. Sunday rest preserves the labor force, health and life expectancy of both people and draft animals.
Let us cite the following very interesting true story on this occasion: “At a time when there were still no railways, and large carts loaded with goods traveled hundreds of miles, and they often remained on the road for 10-12 weeks without a break, adherents and opponents Sunday rest, they made a bet of the following kind among themselves: two wagons of the same type, equally loaded and harnessed by the same number of horses, were to leave simultaneously on Monday morning to the same point, and one driver had to rest the horses on Sundays, and the other continued travel on Sundays. Both carts left and arrived at the appointed place. How did the bet end? But what.
At that time, carts with luggage could travel only a certain distance a day from one inn to another, where cabbies stopped for rest and feed; they usually made about four miles a day. Thus, the cabby "who traveled on Sundays", let's call him for brevity "the enemy of Sunday rest", by the end of the first Sunday, was 3-4 miles ahead of his comrade, "Sunday friend", i.e., the one who had a rest on this day. So. continued until the sixth week, when the "friend of Sunday rest" with his resting cheerful horses overtook the "enemy of Sunday rest", whose horses looked weak and tortured. In the end, the "friend of Sunday rest" was the first to reach the goal.
The meaning of this little story is clear as God's day!
An English physician, Dr. Warren, says: “My experience has consistently convinced me that people who are freed on Sundays from all worldly work and cares, during the week were capable of the greatest amount of work. I also have no doubt that such people would have managed to do more in six days and would have coped with their task better than when they had to work seven days in a row.
Dr. Farre, also an Englishman, and also a doctor, speaking in parliament on the length of the working day in factories, said, among other things, the following: “I look at Sunday as the most necessary day of rest, thanks to which the force living in our body is renewed . Once this power is lost, no medicine will help. True, a night's rest partly restores strength, but in any case, not to a sufficient extent. Therefore, Divine Providence appointed one day out of seven - a day of rest to replenish the night's rest and so that exhausted forces could fully recover. The harmful effect of continuous work does not affect a person as noticeably as it does on animals, but on the other hand, complete exhaustion comes at the end the sooner. The establishment of a day of rest after six working days is a necessity indicated by nature itself, and not an arbitrary invention of people. The human body is so arranged that out of seven days it needs one day of rest from mental and physical work.
Unfortunately, under our modern, unnatural conditions, there are still a number of professions that do not make it possible to use Sunday rest or allow a shortened holiday rest. We are talking about employees at the post and telegraph, on the railways, about the owners of hotels and restaurants, restaurant servants, cooks, etc. The most urgent health interests of all these people urgently require one day of complete rest during the week, but in reality they all have the right to rest no more than once every two weeks, and this is certainly not enough. Overwork bitterly avenges itself, therefore it is not surprising that people who work even on holidays, by the age of forty, that is, at the age of their full prime of life, are already disabled, unable to work. The doctors of health insurance companies and life insurance companies could tell a lot about how many patients there are who, due to overwork, have lost their ability to work and, due to the inability to earn their living, need lifelong assistance. In most cases, these patients are the victim of overwork during their service or during frequent work, and this overwork is the result of the absence of Sunday rest during a number of years of uninterrupted work.
According to German law, adults must work in factories, subtracting breaks of 1.5-2 hours, from 10 to 13 hours. Women work less. Children over 12 years old and under 14 years old should work no more than 6 hours, being freed from any work at night. Teenagers under 16 should not work more than 10 hours. After lunch (from 12 to 13 hours) there is usually an hour break, in the afternoon - a half-hour break (at 16 hours), and if work starts already at 6 in the morning, then another half-hour break is assigned in the morning (at 8 hours).
“It would be more correct to divide the day as follows: 8 hours to work really intensively, with full exertion of mental and physical strength, 8 hours to indulge in quiet activities (reading, etc.) or rest (walking, gymnastics, swimming, etc.). ) and 8 hours of sleep. But at the present time, of course, there is not a single working person, from the highest to the lowest, who could get by with eight hours' work. We all need to devote most of the day to work. To the greater extent should we use the time of rest and not indicate the time of night rest (in well-ventilated rooms).
“Every worker, from the minister to the last day laborer, should be as far away as possible from the place where he works, so that he is forced every morning and every evening to make a long journey in the fresh air and thereby be able to strengthen his body. Workers engaged in technical work, whether they work together, for example, in factories, in workshops, or alone, should have settled outside the city in the nearest villages, where they could have cheaper premises, in addition to a garden at home. In it, they could engage in gardening, which, on this side, would serve as a valuable help to their economy, and, on the other, would significantly harden and strengthen their health and strength.
Early completion of work in the evening on weekdays is by no means a substitute for Sunday rest. The health adviser, Dr. Pavel Niemeyer, relates that during his many years of activity in the Leipzig "Society for the Development of Workers" (during the life of the famous hygienist, this society had several thousand members), he was fully convinced that with a worker who finished his working day at 6 o'clock, it was already difficult to start anything serious. “Based on what I have seen,” says Niemeiner in his award-winning work, “Sunday Rest,” “I think it is more beneficial for the worker to work another hour, then have dinner and go to rest. On Saturday, he must be given an extra hour so that he can go to the bath, and Sunday, starting from sunrise, must entirely belong to him.
“Against the early end of the working day,” Niemeyer writes further, “as well as against any evening meetings outside the home, from a medical point of view, it is necessary to speak out in the most categorical way, since free time is spent in offices, i.e., places overflowing with tobacco smoke where the desire to drink beer artificially develops, where there is no outlet for bodily vapors, and where those present are affected by all the harmful influences to which they are already sufficiently exposed in their closed working premises. Even thinking people do not realize the murderous effect of tobacco smoke on the blood and nerves, because their senses have already become dulled.
So says Dr. P. Niemeyer. The solution of the question of how to give everyone a complete Sunday rest is extremely difficult; universal absolute Sunday rest is impossible, since nursing, household duties, travel conditions, etc., already in themselves make it unthinkable. And yet the commandment to “rest from work on the seventh day” remains an urgent necessity, and therefore it is the duty of every person to insist on a requirement that morality, hygiene, and political economy make in equal measure.
The best rest and the most natural state of rest is sleep. It is peace of mind and nerves. A short sleep, sometimes lasting only a few minutes, can, as if by magic, arrange fatigue, weakness and relaxation and revive and strengthen a person again; and, conversely, a long sleep may not bring refreshment and vigor. How right the poet is when he says: "Not a single human mind penetrates into the depths of the secrets of nature." Indeed, the life process that takes place in our body during sleep. remains for our mind in many ways as inexplicable and mysterious as many phenomena that occur in our body during the state of wakefulness.,
One, however. established with certainty, namely that the absorption of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide by the lungs and skin show a significant difference in the state of sleep and wakefulness. During the day we breathe in less oxygen than at night, and at night we emit less carbon dioxide than during the day. This was fully proved by the studies of Professors Voith and Pettenkofer. During the day, partly under the influence of food, work and movement, more carbon dioxide is released in proportion to the amount of oxygen absorbed at that time; on the contrary, more oxygen is absorbed at night than carbon dioxide is released at the same time. The oxygen accumulated during the night is then used the next day to form carbon dioxide.
Experiments with daytime rest showed similar results, i.e., that in this case, just as during nighttime rest, oxygen is accumulated, which is then consumed during work and movement to form carbon dioxide.
These investigations are extremely important from a physiological point of view. They not only explain to us the need for a night's sleep, but also why we need rest during the day and complete rest on Sunday after six days of work.
Rest is as essential to bodily and mental health as movement, food, air, and light.
"Who works and rests,
He doesn't know the doctor at all."
The body of any living being, including humans, requires relaxation without which he dies. In moments of rest, nature saves vital resources, restores the potential of vital mechanisms. Most living organisms alternate small periods of active life with short moments of rest. However, for example, marmots hibernate during the winter. During hibernation, the body temperature of the animal drops from 40 degrees to less than 16, the heartbeat slows down, it inhales only a few times per minute. Metabolic processes are slowed down by the simple possibility of maintaining life, hearing and vision stop working. As soon as spring comes, the vital forces return to the body, and renewed, it begins a new active period of life. The marmot clogs the mink with edible supplies, but, having awakened, does not use them, because new, fresh food grows around. Such rhythms arrange the life of a groundhog from year to year. In order to live on, to breed, to fight for a female, to make unnecessary supplies, the marmot needs to hibernate, thus restoring strength. The groundhog will not wake up earlier than the period determined by nature.
No less important relaxation and for a person. Passionate about active work, a person always looks forward to the weekend, when you can sleep longer, sit in the park with friends, despite the clock, turn to the beauties of the world that are not noticed in the daily bustle of work. And with what impatience the schoolboy is waiting for the holidays, and the adult vacation. On a few vacation days, a person can travel to unfamiliar places, which enriches him with new impressions, energizes him and motivates him to do good work.
Rest is very important for human health. It is no coincidence that there is already a mention of him in the Bible, in the story of the creation of the world. Since then, believers have revered Saturday as a holiday on which nothing can be done. To increase labor productivity, it is more effective not to increase the length of the working day, but rather to reduce it. If builders are forced to work from eight o'clock in the morning until eight o'clock in the evening, then the house built by them will not stand idle for a long time and will leak in the very first years after construction. People who work at night, which leads to a failure of the usual rhythm, receive two days off after the night worked to restore the body.
Rest (peace) is used as a health remedy. It is no coincidence that the best health resorts are built in quiet forest areas. If the body has a cold, then the best medicine is sleep, which gives additional strength to the body to fight the infection. Many people, however, overestimate the value of rest and this leads to negative consequences, such as laziness, inability to move from rest to activity or even start working. Often, such consequences appear in pregnant women who believe that for the normal development of the fetus, it is necessary to lie most of the time without resorting to any activity. Such a delusion leads to the appearance of excess weight, depression in character, and tantrums.
Rest is necessary, first of all, when the body is tired. A person can experience three types of fatigue. The first type is called toxic fatigue and develops in a person during an illness. This fatigue goes away as the person copes with the infection. When a person thinks long and hard about something, without having any rest or physical activity, he develops hypertensive fatigue. He becomes irritable, sad, he has headaches, stiffness in the muscles, sleep is disturbed. Then a person just needs to engage in active physical activity - a brisk walk in the fresh air, a visit to the pool, active games. Fatigue associated with prolonged excessive physical activity is called hypotonic. This type of fatigue is common among people of physical labor engaged in prolonged physical labor - masons, miners, janitors. With the accumulation of fatigue, a person makes mistakes, can get injured, the pace and efficiency of work decrease. In this case, there can be only one help - temporary disability, and better sleep.
There are several ways to have a good rest. Of course, traveling to warm climes on the coasts of the seas (Cuba, Taiwan, Madagascar) cannot be compared with any other, but not every person has the means to go there at least once in a lifetime.
To make up for the need to rest, you need to learn how to do it at home. To do this, there are relaxation techniques (for example, the technique of "gradual relaxation" by Dr. E. Jacobson).
A person needs rest in his daily life, and only by understanding this you can always keep your body in good vitality. In addition, it is necessary to allocate some time for rest at the workplace (take breaks every two hours, walk during breaks if the work is sedentary, do not overwork yourself with excessive or irregular work). We must not forget about a full-fledged vacation, and even more so refuse it (“take money”). It is best to take the days allotted for vacation twice a year and spend them fully (in summer at the sea, in winter skiing), and if there is no such opportunity to spend holidays with family and friends in nature.
It is very important for health to play sports or at least do physical exercises, because sport trains endurance, energizes. Amateur sports do not lead to injuries, overexertion, illnesses, but only bring up respect for the opponent, the change of training with rest helps the body to fully develop.
The main thing is not to forget about everyday rest, not to refuse weekends, and on weekends not to try to find additional work, but to spend them in thought, relaxing.
