Mind Matters: In Defense of Downtime

"Focus, willpower, and the ability to tackle difficult projects all draw from a limited reserve of energy," writes Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist based at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, in an e-mail to Science Careers. "When you deplete these reserves--whether through sleep deprivation, which alters how the brain and body use energy, or through pushing too hard on too many projects--the quality of your work plummets, along with the usual pleasure of working on something important, such as doing good science." It's biological. "No one can afford to skip rest, and anyone's work will be refreshed and restored from some time off." - Irene Levine

Read the full article here.