Thread by @etirabys

I was confused how to 'rest' in a way that seems distinct from vegetating (TV, games, scrolling) or working (art, code)

I grilled my friends about how they rest, and came up with a tentative list of different *types* of exhaustion, which need separate solutions

1. procrastination-guilt => work
2. choice exhaustion => TV marathon, social event, flow state (gaming, coding, or art)
3. loneliness => socialize, LLMs, metta meditation
4. physically tense/inert => exercise, bath
5. thoughts racing => TV, scroll, concentration meditation

(2 miiight be the same as 5?)

usually my problem is 1, so I feel more rested the more I work

one Classically Restful Activity that usually feels anti-restful for me is going on a walk. it works when my issue is 4, but usually 4 is far behind 1 and 5, which walking exacerbates

I didn't list reading anywhere above because it's too intellectually and emotionally varied

challenging but worthwhile material addresses guilt-of-not-doing, and maybe thoughts-racing. Reading certain authors addresses loneliness-tired. Absorbing books address choice-exhaustion

I'm usually 'tired' because I'm fighting myself all the time over my todo list. so I've always associated 'rest' with 'flow state'. it feels good, and when I exit it, the "you never do anything" guilt-buzz is gone. yay! rested!

...but I'm 4 or 5 tired, which idk how to deal with

because I just HAD a restful 5 hour coding or painting session. what do you mean you need more, different rest

(I mean, in practice I scroll social media uncontrollably for an hour. so my routine works. but I didn't have an underlying model of what problem this was solving)

after work I'm out of energy (I'm going to mess up the painting/code if I try to do more) but I'm still keyed up and my thoughts are racing, so I need to turn off my brain and make something else be in control of my mental narration for a while