We never really rest in our daily lives. Even after our work hours end, productivity culture guilts us into always maximizing our time and getting more done. Our phones amplify the problem; they enable us to carry out work commitments even if we don’t want to. Think of a message that you could reply to later, but you chose to respond right away.
Yet research shows our brains need downtime. Scientists find that working on our to-do lists for hours at a stretch doesn’t make us productive1. Taking breaks unlocks our power to think creatively, make better decisions, keep diseases at bay, and actually get more done. Only that we need to step back, relax, and rest; we need to spend time frivolously or dilly-dally.
Scientists define rest in a variety of ways beyond just a good night’s sleep2. Rest can equate to doing nothing at all like staring on to a wall or things such as taking a walk, day dreaming, napping, and playing video games. Take uncomplicated tasks where your brain isn’t actively thinking about doing them. Activities such as watching television3 and scrolling on social media4 may not always count as rest.
For much of history, our brains weren’t thought to be productive in the background when we rested5. But soon, scientists discovered a subset of brain regions called the default mode network or DMN that only fires when we take a pause from mentally challenging tasks6. Research into DMN shows it is important to take breaks. Otherwise, our tasks become harder to solve, and we risk experiencing burnout in the long run7.
But improving work isn’t the only reason scientists recommend rest. Letting our brain drift into unconscious moments can bring in solutions to all kinds of problems—without us realizing it. If you ever had an epiphany during a shower or a walk, chances are your DMN is active.
In 2004, Ap Dijksterhuis, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam put this idea to test8. He asked 80 university students to pick the best apartment from a set of four choices. Unknown to the students, there was one apartment among the four with the best possible features. The students were then placed in three groups. The first group made a choice immediately, the second group got 3 minutes to think about the options before deciding, and researchers distracted the third group for 3 minutes before letting them decide. The third group, despite having little time to deliberately think, chose the best apartment.
In a follow up study published in Science in 2006, Dijksterhuis and colleagues show similar outcomes when it comes to choosing complex products such as cars and furniture as compared to clothing and kitchen accessories9. Participants were satisfied with their decisions even though they made them unconsciously as compared to those who made them after deliberate thinking. Both these studies showed that we can identify solutions to complex tasks even when we aren’t thinking about them actively.
Restful activities also have similar benefits on decision-making and aid in our overall health. For example, research shows walking improves our mood, memory, and creativity. Our brains make a cocktail of feel-good hormones such as serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins when we walk10. The brain’s white matter, the highways connecting different brain regions, avoids fraying with 40 minutes of brisk walking three times a week11. In the long run, walking reduces the chances of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
But walking in green spaces has an even more transformative effect on the brain unlike urban spaces. A 2015 study published in the British journal of Sports Medicine showed that a stroll in a park holds space for soft fascination–palette of flowers, trees, and animals in nature–which serves as an antidote to brain fatigue12. In other words, green spaces make our brains pay attention but in an effortless way and make our DMN light up13.
Another 2024 study published in Environmental Research showed that an hour of walking in nature, and not in an urban area, increased the size of the hippocampus, a critical brain area for memory formation14. They also show that nature walks reduce the stress response from the amygdala, a brain region essential for emotional processes15.
But walking isn’t the only underappreciated activity that helps our brain function better; napping too brings several benefits. Research shows that a mid-day nap, called a siesta, boosts memory and consolidates our creative energy for an upcoming task afterward.
A 2026 study published in NeuroImage analyzed how connections between nerve cells called synapses change post napping16. Researchers found that participants who took a 45-minute nap were better prepared to learn new information as their brain’s ability to form new synapses increased. An analysis of 11 studies showed a siesta improved memory, attention, and planning for at least two hours after the nap17. Workplaces are yet to encourage naps for workers, but naps could hold the power to boost productivity and reduce fatigue18.
Playing video games lights up our DMN too, despite not being the first thing to cross our minds as a restful activity. A 2025 study published in the Frontiers in Communication found that students who played video games were better at regulating emotions than those who did not19. Another 2010 study published in Current Biology made the case for action video games20. People who played action-packed video games were good at making decisions in unrelated dull tasks as compared to the group who played slow-paced video games.
The act of engaging in the video’s content instead of just watching it activates our DMN. But the benefits of play aren’t limited to playing video games. Joseph Jebelli, neuroscientist and the author of the book The Brain At Rest, encourages readers to climb trees, attend pottery classes or improv theaters, and sing loudly on their cycle home. Taking time to rekindle our childlike wonder are a perfect escape from things we have to worry about in our everyday life.
Taking downtime, however, is hardly a part of daily lives. Being busy all the time is worn as a badge of honor by many. But research shows that making a commitment to rest can change the way we show up every day for ourselves. Our brains can perform their daily maintenance and enhance our long-term productivity and well-being. So, sprinkle in moments throughout the day to bring you joy and remember it’s alright to dilly-dally.
References-
1 Luo, Wei et al. “Rest to Promote Learning: A Brain Default Mode Network Perspective.” Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 14,4 349. 22 Apr. 2024, doi:10.3390/bs14040349
2 Stacy Shaw. “Why Active Rest Is Important During the Holidays.” Scientific American, 27 December 2025.
3 International Communication Association. “Feelings of loneliness, depression linked to binge-watching television.” ScienceDaily, 29 January 2015.
4 Alisa Bowman. “Doomscrolling: Stop the scroll, protect your mental health.” Mayo Clinic, 18 April 2024.
5 Ferris Jabr. “Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime.” Scientific American, 15 October 2013.
6 Menon, Vinod. “20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesis.” Neuron vol. 111,16 (2023): 2469-2487. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2023.04.023
7 Chritine Ro. “How overwork is literally killing us” BBC, 19 May 2021
8 Dijksterhuis, Ap. “Think different: the merits of unconscious thought in preference development and decision making.” Journal of personality and social psychology vol. 87,5 (2004): 586-98. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.5.586
9 Dijksterhuis, Ap et al. “On making the right choice: the deliberation-without-attention effect.” Science (New York, N.Y.) vol. 311,5763 (2006): 1005-7. doi:10.1126/science.1121629
Author
Ananya Dash- Of all the wonders of life, the invisible world of cells and microbes inspire Ananya the most. She studies how Strep A, your common culprit for an itchy throat, turns destructive to cause severe infections as a Ph.D. candidate at Emory University. She wants to take science beyond the lab bench and strives to make it both accessible and tangible for the community. Outside of the lab, she enjoys writing about health and wellness, reading books, and cooking.
Illustrator
Vithur Varenya is an aspiring developmental biologist currently working as a Junior Research Fellow at SRMIST. Her passion for art began with observational sketching, and she especially enjoys illustrating elements of nature, often decorating her notes with creative doodles. Outside the laboratory, she spends her time exploring new subjects, experimenting with new art styles, and reading books.
This article was written as part of Club SciWri’s Science Writing Workshop, an initiative aimed at nurturing new voices in science communication and helping participants explore how to make complex ideas accessible to wider audiences.
Workshop conducted by Saurja Dasgupta, Ananya Sen, Rohini Subrahmanyam, Sumbul Jawed Khan, and Roopsha Sengupta
