About this item
For most of us, overwork is the new normal and rest is an afterthought. In our busy lives, rest is defined as the absence of work: late-night TV binges, hours spent trawling the internet, something to do once we've finished everything else on our to-do lists. But dismissing rest stifles our ability to think creatively and truly recharge.In Rest, Silicon Valley consultant Alex Pang argues that we can be more successful in all areas of our lives by recognizing the importance of rest: working better does not mean working more, it means working less and resting better. Treating rest as a passive activity secondary to work undermines our chances for a rewarding and meaningful life. Whether by making space for daily naps, as Winston Churchill did during World War II; going on hours-long strolls like Charles Darwin; or spending a week alone in a cabin like Bill Gates, pursuing what Pang calls "deliberate rest" is the true key to fulfillment and creative success. Drawing on rigorous scientific evidence and revelatory historical examples, Rest overturns everything our culture has taught us about work and shows that only by resting better can we start living better
About the Author
I study people, technology, and the worlds they make. My latest book, SHORTER: WORK BETTER, SMARTER, AND LESS-- HERE'S HOW (Public Affairs 2020) , explains how companies have moved to 4-day weeks without reducing profits, sacrificing productivity-- or cutting salaries.It's a sequel to my last book, REST: WHY YOU GET MORE DONE WHEN YOU WORK LESS (Basic Books 2016) , which explores the role that deliberate rest plays in the lives of creative and productive people. The latest paperback edition features a foreword by Arianna Huffington.REST builds on ideas I started exploring in THE DISTRACTION ADDICTION (Little, Brown & Co. 2013) , which explained how we can use information technologies to stay focused and be more creative, rather than distracted and fractured.Together, these books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.I founded Strategy Rest to help organizations that want to implement 4-day weeks and deliberate rest in their own workplaces. Previously I worked in as a technology forecaster and futurist in Silicon Valley think-tanks. I'm also a visiting scholar at Stanford University.I studied history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania, and have held fellowships at Williams College, University of California-Berkeley, and Microsoft Research Cambridge. My first book, EMPIRE AND THE SUN: VICTORIAN SOLAR ECLIPSE EXPEDITIONS (Stanford University Press, 2002) , is about, well, Victorian solar eclipse expeditions.
