Look, I'm about to tell you something you probably already know, but I want you to stick with

me.

Rest.

You know, the act of slowing the motors, decreasing the daily surge, shutting down the auxiliary

machinery of our bodies and brains is so important.

For many of us, it's the only way to get a reprieve from the relentless stress we regularly

endure.

So yes, when you haven't gotten your recommended seven and nine hours of sleep at night, you

wake up more sluggish and irritated than you otherwise would.

Your body can actually feel heavy, and your brain just doesn't work as well as it could.

The worst, of course, when a coworker or a friend or your mom says something like, wow,

you look tired.

Ugh.

But here's the thing, most of us don't actually notice how crucial being rested is until

we're deprived of it.

And even then, we're probably still under valuing how inadequate rest really affects

us personally, especially our brains.

Did you know that even simply the process of getting ready for bed, turning off the lights,

setting the phone aside, crawling into the sheets, even that alone changes our brains.

We begin the process of slowing down.

What's going on in the brain in layman's terms is essentially our brain is getting a chance

to not be consciously engaged in task switching all day long, and our cognitive function is

...