Rest isn't a reward. It's a requirement.
Read on kevferrell.com
Welcome to Rewire | Reboot, a weekly newsletter where I share reflections from my ongoing personal growth journey and provide tested ideas, frameworks, tools and practices to help you create the life you want.
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In this issue:
- Rewire - Do Nothing. On Purpose
- One Action - Create Space
- Reboot - Sleep Is More Than a Number
- Toolkit - Eight Sleep Pod
Rewire - Idea I'm Exploring
Do Nothing. On Purpose.
Most high performers struggle with rest.
Not because they don’t value it, but because doing nothing feels wrong.
There’s a quiet guilt that creeps in the moment we slow down. A low-grade anxiety about everything we could be doing instead.
So even when we rest, we don’t really rest. We sit still while our mind keeps working.
I lived this way for most of my life.
Always “on.”
Or more accurately, never fully off.
Trying to recover at 50% while still thinking about what was next.
The problem with operating at 50% all the time is that it eventually feels like burnout - even if you never stop moving.
Here’s what I learned the hard way:
You don’t recover by doing less work. You recover by being fully present in rest.
Rest isn’t the absence of effort. It’s a different mode of effort.
When you rest, rest completely.
No multitasking. No mental scorekeeping. No guilt.
Once I finally gave myself permission to truly turn it off once in a while, everything changed.
I had more energy when it was time to turn it back on.
Not forced energy, but real energy.
The goal isn’t to do everything at a moderate pace. That’s a fast way to exhaust yourself.
The goal is oscillation: Full on. Full off.
When you sprint, sprint. When you rest, rest.
This applies beyond just relaxation and recovery - it applies to direction.
In work especially, it’s easy to confuse motion with progress. To spend all day reacting, clearing inboxes, putting out fires - “busy work” - without ever stopping to ask:
Am I working on the right things?
Answering this question requires creating space.
Unstructured time.
No email. No phone. No agenda.
Rest creates space. And space creates clarity.
Doing nothing isn’t falling behind. It’s how you reset your energy - and your aim.
Rest isn’t what you do when you’re done. It’s what makes your best work possible.
One Action
Create Space
Schedule 60 minutes of unstructured time over the next week.
No phone. No email. No distractions. Just a quiet space with a pen and paper.
Don’t try to solve everything. You could start by asking yourself this question: “Am I working on the right things?”
Notice what comes up.
Let me know how it goes. Reply to this email.
Reboot - Health & Longevity
Sleep Is More Than a Number
If rest is the reset button, sleep is its foundation.
And like rest, sleep works best when it’s done fully and intentionally. That’s what we’ll focus on next.
The single most powerful tool we have at our disposal for improving physical and mental health and longevity is exercise. The second is nutrition.
Rounding out the top three key domains within our control that have the most significant impact on lifespan and healthspan is sleep.
Most people understand the importance of sleep duration. We’ve all heard the rule of thumb that adults should aim for 7–8 hours per night.
But there are other intertwined critical dimensions of sleep that matter just as much for health, mood and performance: sleep quality and sleep regularity.
It’s not only about how long you sleep. It’s about how consistently you go to bed and wake up, and that you spend sufficient time in the natural stages - light sleep, deep sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
The Stages of Sleep (and Why They Matter)
This table briefly summarizes the sleep stages as a precursor to what’s more important - how to create the conditions to maximize them.
Miss the early part of the night and you sacrifice deep sleep.
Cut sleep short in the morning and you lose REM.
Irregular schedules will disrupt both.
Why Regularity Might Matter More Than Duration
A growing body of research shows that irregular sleep schedules - fluctuating bedtimes, wake times and inconsistent sleep duration - can have serious consequences for both physical and mental health. These things have been linked to:
- metabolic dysfunction and higher body fat percentages
- increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes
- impaired cognitive function
- higher rates of anxiety and depression
Even modest shifts like staying up late on weekends can create what’s known as social jetlag, where your internal clock is repeatedly pushed out of sync. You may never leave your time zone, but your body feels like you did.
Stabilizing your sleep schedule may be one of the highest-leverage health interventions available.
Here's How
Tips for Sleep Optimization
1. Timing Is Everything
- Going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time every day, even after a poor night of sleep or on weekends. This one has often been a challenge for me, but when I’m able to stick with it the benefits are substantial and measurable.
2. Use Light to Set the Clock
- Getting morning light exposure, covered here, as soon as possible after waking - ideally within 30-60 minutes of waking will anchor your circadian clock
- In the evening, reverse the signal: reduce artificial light 1–2 hours before bed, dim overhead lights, shut down devices an hour before sleep when possible
- I use the TUO light when I can’t access natural light
3. Move Your Body (Earlier Is Better)
- Exercise improves sleep quality and increases deep sleep, but timing matters. I find training earlier in the day when possible and avoiding intense workouts closer to bedtime makes a big difference.
4. Manage the Inputs
- Alcohol: even one or two drinks can significantly reduce sleep quality and REM
- Caffeine and other stimulants: avoid within 8–10 hours of bedtime
- Food: avoid heavy meals within a few hours of sleep
- Fluids: taper in the final 1–2 hours to reduce nighttime wake-ups
5. Optimize the Environment
Your bedroom should make sleep the default.
- Use the bed only for sleep, sex and possibly reading
- Keep TVs and work out of the room
- Make the room very dark (blackout curtains help)
- Keep it cool - 18-19 degrees Celsius or 65-66 degrees Fahrenheit is optimal overnight
- Adding white noise can help - I often run a fan for steady, soothing background sound
6. Don’t Force It
This is one seems a bit counter-intuitive, but it works.
- If you can’t fall asleep, trying harder usually backfires. Instead, get out of bed and do something calm (reading works well) until you’re ready to return to sleep
- If you wake during the night and can’t fall back asleep, you can do the same. Breathing techniques, guided meditations or sleep stories can also help interrupt mental loops. I often use the Calm app for this purpose - get a free 30-day guest pass.
- If you wake up within 1-2 hours of your normal waking time, try just getting up and starting your day. Your body will adjust by being more ready for sleep the following night.
7. Supplements (Optional not Foundational)
Try the above first. If you still have difficulty sleeping well, many people experience great results by taking ZMA 30–60 minutes before bed, which is a trademarked formulation of Zinc, Magnesium and vitamin B6.
Over the years, I have recommended this supplement to countless people who reported back amazing results. Many people are deficient in Zinc and Magnesium, and correcting that alone can meaningfully improve sleep quality.
I often struggle with sleep despite best efforts to keep a consistent protocol. As a result, I’ve experimented with many sleep supplements over the years and plan to do a deeper dive evaluating different supplements and “sleep stacks” in the near future.
For most people, though, simplicity wins. Start with the basics.
Toolkit - Something I'm Using
Eight Sleep Pod
The Eight Sleep Pod has been the single most game-changing tool I’ve found for improving sleep.
For years, temperature was my biggest sleep disruptor. Even with a Tempur-Pedic mattress, I’d wake up hot and sweating. I’d kick the sheets off… then wake up cold.
Rinse and repeat.
To make it more complicated, my wife is usually the opposite - too cold while I’m overheating. Adjusting the room temperature never really solved it.
The Eight Sleep Pod finally fixed that problem.
It actively controls the temperature of each side of the bed independently, so both people can sleep at the temperature that works best for them.
And its Autopilot feature automatically adjusts temperature throughout the night to support different sleep stages and to keep you sleeping comfortably.
The result for me has been:
- Fewer nighttime wakeups
- Less tossing and turning
- More consistent sleep quality
It’s not subtle - it’s dramatic.
Now, It’s not cheap. But for something you use every single night and that directly affects energy, mood and performance it’s worth considering making room in your health budget for it.
You’ll spend roughly one-third of your life sleeping. What kind of investment are you willing to make in it?
If you’re interested, here’s a referral link that will save you $350:
I have no affiliation with or sponsorship from Eight Sleep and don’t earn anything from referrals.
Inspirational Quote
“The art of rest is a part of the art of work.”
— Alan Watts
Rest isn’t a reward for finishing the work.
It’s a requirement for doing your best work.
Reader's Corner
Ask Me Anything
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Until next week,
Kevin
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