How to Prioritize Rest

It has been a long couple of years. Days turned into weeks that felt like months and now here we are at the end of two years, and it's all about to start again. With people dying, COVID spreading, and the world officially coming to an end, the one thing everyone needs with the coming new year is some rest. As a self-imposed busy body, rest is the one thing that I often don't prioritize; between work, school, projects, and keeping myself mentally sane, rest and sleep become the last thing on my mind. However, it shouldn't be this way to here is a handy dandy list of how I plan to get some rest in the coming new year and hopefully continue living through this pandemic.

1. Scheduling. Everyone lives by their calendars these days. Classes, appointments, luncheons and dinners are all logged and planned into every day. I already plan every meal and snack into my day, personal experience teaching me that if I don't I'll forget, so the year of 2022 is when I resolve to start. By scheduling specific times in the day to chill on the couch, take a nap, and go to bed at a decent time I will guarantee to take some time for myself and relax for more than five minutes at a time.

2. Routine. Human beings, when not on any substances, have a lovely built in system that controls everything we do, including when we sleep. Having a routine that you stick to every single day is the best way to harmonize with your body so that everything is synchronized to when it needs to be. Wake up at the same time, eat at the same time, get ready for bed at the same time, and don't drink coffee after three. While each new day is often full of inconveniences, having a routine allows any individual (depression or not) to move through the day in a more linear fashion. By creating a routine and sticking to it, I have complete control over my body's own circadian rhythm. In the new year, I plan to keep up this routine and refine it even more to maximize the amount of rest I get, and as an added bonus, it will help keep my depression on hold.

3. Context. This is where everything comes together into the perfect plan. Each new year comes with new challenges and events, and 2022 is looking to be no different. With summer weather in winter, comets grazing the atmosphere, glaciers guaranteeing a sea level rise of over three feet, and graduation just around the corner, the coming new year looks to be as full of excitement and chaos as 2020. And as we saw two years ago, the environment you put yourself in has everything to do with your success in life. Psychologists have a lovely term for this called Context Learning. It is when your repeated routine in the same environment over time creates a conditioned state. Walk into a cafeteria enough times and you will start to become hungry upon entering the doors. This same concept also works with resting. While having a routine is immensely helpful, making sure to apply it in the same context makes it biologically driven. Wear the same clothes, sleep on the same pillow, listen to the same music and vibe under the same lighting, all these little details may seem innocuous but they are essential to a good night's sleep or even just a relaxing night in. My 2022 resolution comes to a point here, where even if it is raining fire I will be spending the incoming year fast asleep under a pile of fleece blankets and yellow fairy lights.

Rest isn't usually something people think about that often, but for me it requires a massive amount of mental and physical effort. Every little detail must be thought out, planned, and put into practice every single day. Resting is supposed to be easy, for most people they do it whenever they feel like it, but I can't do it that way. With 2022 creeping on the horizon my New Year's Resolution is simple: stick to my three steps on How to Prioritize Rest and everything else should turn out fine.