Buret McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.

One of my favorite sayings is that a change is as good as a rest.

It captures an idea I found through my own life.

That doing something different, even if it takes effort, is just as rejuvenating and in

fact more so than doing nothing.

When my guest day would tweak this maxim slightly to say that change is a rest.

His name is Alex Su-jung Kim-pong and he's a writer, consultant, and academic as well as the

author of rest while you get more done when you work less.

We begin our conversation with why many people feel overworked in the modern age,

how quality rest is the nanodote, and how Alex defines rest as something that can be

active rather than passive and even thought of as a skill.

We discuss why rest is valuable, even with seemingly unstrenuous knowledge work,

and how apparently unproductive mind wandering can in fact make you more productive and creative.

Alex shares how many hours of focus, cognitive work you're really capable of putting in each day,

and how successful people tend to set up their day to routine, including why it's effective stop,

work each day in the middle of a task.

We also discuss why you want to layer periods of rest and work in your schedule,

how hobbies offer sense of autonomy, that's crucial in making rest refreshing,

and how exercise plays a key role in recovery from work, even amongst brainy intellectuals.

Along the way, Alex shares insights in the lives of imminent men like Eisenhower,

Hemingway, and Victor Frankl, and how to get better rest, become better at your craft,

and link them in the longevity of your career.

...