How to Schedule the Right Kind of Nothing
The Most Creative Thing I Did This Week Was… Rest.
You know how people say, “Rest is important”? Me … I am that person. And I take rest very seriously … Maybe this is why I get along with my dogs so well. They are professional nappsters.
I’ve been known to say on stages and in sessions that rest is a leadership strategy. And not the "collapse on the couch because you're burned out" kind of rest. I mean intentional, creative rest that makes room for momentum to actually means something.
This week, inside my Creative Blocking rhythm, I noticed something. I wasn’t avoiding work. I was avoiding rest. And that avoidance? It was costing me clarity, adaptability, leadership, and momentum.
So instead of “pushing through,” I let one of my creative blocks become what my body and brain were actually asking for: a rest block.
Not a nap.
Not a cancel-everything-and-disappear-for-a-week plan (though tempting).
But a clear, conscious choice to refill my tank not just empty my inbox.
A C.A.L.M.-Aligned Practice in Capacity, Rhythm, and Permission
Clarity: Rest helps you distinguish between what’s urgent and what’s important.
It reveals what’s actually running in the background of your brain.
You might think you need better time management—but what you really need is a clearer signal from yourself.
Adaptability: When you’re well-rested, you respond. When you’re depleted, you react. Rest gives you the elasticity to meet life as it is.
Leadership: What if leadership looked like modeling nervous system regulation instead of chronic availability? Rest communicates trust in yourself, in your team, in the future. It tells your calendar: I’m building something sustainable here.
Momentum: Rest isn’t the opposite of progress—it’s the foundation of it. One well-placed rest block can do more for your momentum than a to-do list on fire.
The 7 Types of Rest
(And Which One You Might Actually Need)
Thanks to Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith’s work in Sacred Rest, we have a powerful lens to assess the kind of rest we’re really needing. Let’s say you're creatively blocking your time—and you're still not feeling refreshed.
It might not be that rest "didn’t work." It might be that you chose the wrong kind.
No-pressure rundown
Physical Rest: Sleep, stretching, yoga, massage that allows the body to actually recovery. You need this when you’re exhausted, aching, or dragging despite “enough sleep.”
What it restores: Your body’s ability to recover and regulate.
Laying on the floor with legs up the wall after a long day
(no phone, just gravity doing its thing).Doing slow, mindful stretches while listening to music you loved as a teen.
Taking a warm bath with no multitasking just being in the water, maybe even in silence.
Mental Rest: Give your brain a breather. Close the tabs. Stop solving problems that haven’t happened yet. Mental rest might look like journaling, meditating, or simply doing nothing between tasks.
What it restores: Clarity, focus, and peace from cognitive overload.
Setting a 10-minute timer to stare out the window and let your thoughts drift without solving anything.
Journaling without prompts, just dumping what’s been looping in your brain onto paper.
Creating “white space” between tasks (even just 5 minutes) so your brain can exhale before the next thing.
Sensory Rest: The lights, the screens, the scrolling. It adds up. This rest means shutting it all down for a while. Dim the lights, unplug, take a walk without headphones.
What it restores: Your nervous system from overstimulation.
Turning off every notification and sitting in a quiet room with soft light.
Taking a walk without headphones, podcasts, or even music, just noticing the world happening with out judgement or control.
Closing your eyes for five minutes in the middle of the day, especially after screen-heavy hours.
Emotional Rest: The mask gets heavy. Emotional rest is a chance to not perform, to let yourself feel, to be held by safe people or spaces. Sometimes it's silence. Sometimes it's therapy. Always, it's honesty.
What it restores: Your authenticity and emotional bandwidth.
Voice texting a friend with the truth of how you feel. No edits. No “I’m fine.”
Crying in the car to your favorite sad song, not rushing yourself to feel better.
Letting yourself not show up with a smile. Opting out of pretending when you need to be held instead.
Social Rest: This doesn’t mean becoming a hermit. It means recalibrating. You need this when your group chats make you anxious, your inbox feels like a battlefield, or you’re tired from too much “being on.”
What it restores: Energy spent in performance or over-connection.
Canceling plans without guilt and staying home in pajamas because you want to.
Spending time with someone who lets you show up 100% as you are (and doesn’t need you to “perform”).
Logging out of social media for a full day or two, letting your energy belong fully to you.
Creative Rest: You don’t need to make something—just let wonder in.
Listen to music. Watch a sunrise. Flip through art books. Walk somewhere you’ve never walked before. This is fuel, not fluff.
What it restores: Your sense of wonder, imagination, and inner spark.
Walking through a local museum or garden without a phone in hand—just awe.
Rewatching a childhood favorite movie or flipping through an old art book for inspiration.
Sitting with a candle and doodling or coloring something not meant to be “good”—just playful.
Spiritual Rest: When life feels untethered, spiritual rest offers connection. Whether it’s prayer, reflection, values-based living, or just being with something greater than yourself, this kind of rest helps you come home to meaning.
What it restores: A felt sense of connection, purpose, and meaning.
Sitting quietly, asking, “What do I already know that I’ve been ignoring?”
Taking a moment to look at the sky and remember: You are part of something much larger.
Writing down three core values and letting them guide a decision, instead of urgency or fear.
What Kind of Restoration
Are You Craving?
A Rest Practice for Real Life (and Real Calendars)
Creative Blocking isn’t just for focus. It’s also a brilliant way to
schedule the right kind of nothing.
Not the collapse-on-the-couch kind. The kind that restores your clarity, capacity, and creative power. So what if, this week, you tried something different?
Instead of asking: “What can I get done?”
Try asking: “What kind of restoration am I craving?”
And then … lock it in. Name it. Show up for it like you would a client, a boss, or a big meeting. Because it is that important.
Reframe a Creative Block as a Rest Block
When you’re using your Priority Checklist + Week-at-a-Glance, don’t just schedule work. Make room for restoration. Here’s how:
Mental Rest: Quiet walk, no phone.
Emotional Rest: Journaling with no filter.
Sensory Rest: Digital detox hour.
Creative Rest: Sit outside with a notebook—no agenda.
Physical Rest: Legs up the wall for 10 minutes.
Spiritual Rest: Ask yourself, “What do I already know that I’ve been ignoring?”
But here’s the magic:
Label the time by the type of rest, not the task. Just a little psychology on ourselves.
Not “email cleanup.”
Try: “Mental rest through gentle sorting.”Not “walk the dog.”
Try: “Physical rest through movement.”
Because rest doesn’t happen by accident. Especially not the kind that restores your mind, your body, or your purpose.
Creative Blocking gives you permission to schedule rest as part of the plan. Not just what’s leftover when the plan falls apart from being exhausted on all levels.
And no, you don’t have to earn this kind of rest. You just have to recognize when you need it—and honor it with space. Scheduling intentional, consistent time for these types of rest not only helps prevent depletion, but also supports clearer thinking and sustainable productivity.
