While our bodies and minds need rest to operate at peak capacity, too often we rest by doing nothing and succumbing to brain rot, e.g., by watching TV shows or playing video games for hours on end, with the goal of numbing the mind.
The mind doesn’t work like that: it doesn’t need complete idleness to rest. Instead, it needs to be engaged in activities different from our usual day-to-day.
Winston Churchill said that:
“The best rest for doing one thing is doing another until you fall into a sound sleep. It is the vigorous use of idle time that will broaden your education, make you a more efficient specialist, a happier man, a more useful citizen.”