Designing for Resilience: The 7 Types of Rest in Library Work

We sent the book off to the publisher last week, and I am just delighted with the result. It is always so much fun to work on projects like the book because what you envision and propose changes over time as you start to build it. The good news is now that that is done, I have time to get back to writing here, and I have some catching up to do!

As someone who has been writing a blog for almost 20 years (!!! I will circle back to that in another post soon), I am still surprised by which topics and posts resonate with people. I shouldn’t be, but I am.

For the last 2 years or so, I had included the 7 types of rest in many of my presentations, and when I finally sat down to write about it, it took off. So much so that I was asked to create a whole presentation on it, which I delivered to the South Central Regional Library Council back in February!

We spent time walking through the seven types of rest – physical, mental, sensory, emotional, social, creative, and values-based – and how each one shows up in library work. This framework helped name forms of exhaustion they hadn’t had language for before. I heard from so many people after the presentation about how this helped them name something they knew was wrong, but couldn’t quite identify.  

Librarians and library staff are getting enough sleep, trying to take breaks, and even prioritizing self-care where they can. But they’re still exhausted. Like so much of my work on well-being, getting enough rest (and recovery) isn’t just about personal habits; it’s also about the world we live in, including work.

Rest is not just an individual need. It’s something that has to be supported structurally.

We talked about what that looks like in practice. How scheduling affects mental and physical rest. How culture contributes to (or reduces) overload. How physical spaces can either support focus and recovery or make both harder. How expectations around availability, responsiveness, and even “niceness” create additional, often invisible demands on staff.

A healthy workplace is created through policies, practices, and culture that support people as whole humans – physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. Not through one-off initiatives or wellness programs. We can’t keep asking people to be more resilient when the system doesn’t support them. We need to design workplaces where people have the conditions they need to rest and recover.

References and Recommended Reading

Abramson, A. (2025, May 6). Seven types of rest to help restore your body’s energy. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/mental-health/seven-rest-types

Allaya Cooks-Campbell. (2021, August 11). 7 Types of Rest (Because You Need More Rest in Your Life. BetterUp. https://www.betterup.com/blog/types-of-rest

Gupta, S. (2025, September 6). The 7 Types of Rest You Need—And How to Get Enough of Each. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/types-of-rest-11794029

Headlee, C. A. (2020). Do nothing: How to break away from overworking, overdoing, and underliving (First edition). Harmony Books. WorldCat.

Here are the 7 types of rest that can help you to feel fully renewed. (2025, January 15). Calm Blog. https://blog.calm.com/blog/7-types-of-rest

Hersey, T. (2024). Rest is resistance: Free yourself from grind culture and reclaim your life. Aster.

Hersey, T., Champagne, P., & Vaughan, L. (2023). The Nap Ministry’s rest deck: 50 practices to resist grind culture. 1 game (50 cards, 1 instruction booklet) : color ; in container 16 x 11 x 4 cm. WorldCat.

MD, S. D.-S. (2021, January 6). The 7 types of rest that every person needs. Ideas.Ted.Com. https://ideas.ted.com/the-7-types-of-rest-that-every-person-needs/

Medaris, A. (2025, July 31). Why rest and sleep aren’t the same—And why journalists should know the difference. Association of Health Care Journalists. https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2025/07/why-rest-and-sleep-arent-the-same-and-why-journalists-should-know-the-difference/

Neff, K. (2011). Self-compassion: Stop beating yourself up and leave insecurity behind (1st ed). William Morrow.

Newport, C. (2024). Slow productivity: The lost art of accomplishment without burnout. Penguin Business.

Odell, J. (2019). How to do nothing: Resisting the attention economy. Melville House. WorldCat.

Price, D. (2022). Laziness does not exist: A defense of the exhausted, exploited, and overworked. Atria.

Raphael, R. (2022). The gospel of wellness: Gyms, gurus, goop, and the false promise of self-care (First edition). Henry Holt and Company.

Zomorodi, M. (2017). Bored and brilliant: How spacing out can unlock your most productive and creative self (First edition). St. Martin’s Press. WorldCat.

Please don't call me a speaker. Even if you give me just 25 minutes, I'll include time for people to interact with the content I'm sharing.

https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/event-design/2014/05/please-stop-calling-me-a-speaker

#presentations #presenter #speaking #speaker #interaction #participation #eventprofs

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Link - https://www.culturalvibing.com/travelcommunityreach

We De People Cultural Awareness is greatly improved when a society has Intercultural strategies that leverage the diversity of people and the organizations they comprise. Ignoring Cultures Awareness incompetency’s only results in giving an edge to those who use culture to dehumanize others or disrupt corporate strategic interest.

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BE THE DREAM cVIBINg Media Services Portal Global Features | News Vibes one bridge at a time To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key. Watch Sky News Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Let’s talk 2024 US General Elections We ARE OVER. US Immigration US.

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Sometimes I will go the entire weekend without uttering a single word, perhaps a few to my cats, but that's it. And it carries on into my work week, where I just don't say anything unless I have to. Sometimes I feel like I have so much to say, but nobody to hear it. So I write.

#writing #speaking

I'm considering a new essay on Parsifal, Cassandra, and The Emperor (and his new clothes) as a metaphor for institutional silence.

https://open.substack.com/pub/brywillis634737/p/working-title-parsifal-cassandra?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

I've got a working thesis and an abstract. This started as a commentary on The Fisher King, but it's expanded to all three

#philosophy #writing #metaphor #myth #legend #fairytales #parables #blog #podcast #substack #poll #society #institutions #structure #diagnosis #analysis #conformity #speaking #asking #silence

A quotation from The Bible

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 20. Proverbs 18:13 (Prov 18:13) [RJPS (2023 ed.)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-ot/82765/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #oldtestament #proverbs #activelistening #answering #conversation #dialog #discussion #engagement #listening #reply #responding #response #retorting #selfabsorption #selfcentered #speaking