After a season of hustle and bustle, it’s essential to kick off 2025 with some much needed rest before you can tackle your resolutions.
Though “rest” may seem counterproductive to your goals for the new year, it’s actually the opposite. In fact, research has shown that allowing your mind and body to recharge can help boost your productivity by increasing concentration, warding off stress and burnout, and even improving your mood. Essentially, the reason for this boils down to our brains needing downtime during which they don’t have to process information.
As relaxing as they may seem, leisurely activities like puzzles, reading, going to the museum, catching up with friends, and scrolling on social media don’t satisfy this “downtime” requirement. This is because they are still stimulating the information processing part of your brain and “true” downtime requires mindless activities.
As an everyday requirement, these mindless activities will look different for everyone, but as long as this downtime allows your mind to be still or naturally wander without having to focus or process information, it’ll fulfill the need. Try any or all of the below ways to rest this year to allow space for creativity, memories, and productivity to flourish. Bonus: all of these double as transformative goals for 2025.
Prioritize self-care. With 88% of Americans actively practicing self-care, it’s one health and wellness trend you want to jump on in the new year (if you haven’t already). To make it a sustainable goal, though, it’s important to commit to a practice that is realistic for you and your schedule. For some, it may look like a face mask, bath, or a walk in nature. For others, it may simply be 10 minutes to disconnect with a matcha or a commitment to 15 minutes to stretch before bedtime. The easier you make it for yourself, the more likely you are to stick to it.
READ MORE: 7 Tips to Successfully Prioritize Self-Care
Journal: The key to journaling mindlessly is to do so without a prompt or specific idea. Instead, you must simply take a pen or pencil to your paper and write whatever comes to you. Allow your mind to naturally wander and your thoughts to flow onto paper without editing to make room for all the information you’ll absorb once you’re no longer resting.
Channel your inner artist. Doodling, scrapbooking, or coloring can help you enter a mindless state by blocking out what’s around you as you craft without worry. If you’re an overthinker or a perfectionist, this one may not be the mindless activity for you. If you can let go a bit, though, and allow your doodles to take you elsewhere for a bit of time, this one’s for you.
Sleep plenty of hours each night. While sleep isn’t the only way to rest your brain, it’s a crucial one. Not only is it vital for overall health, mood, brain function, and your immune system, it’s also proven to be good for your skin. After all, they call it “beauty sleep” for a reason — think skin cell regeneration, reduced inflammation, collagen production, and more.
Streamline your skincare routine: Our absolute favorite mindfulness ritual (to no surprise) is a luxurious skincare regimen you actually look forward to at the beginning and end of your day. Of course, for it to be a therapeutic experience, it must be straightforward and stress-free. That’s why our four-step regimen is specifically designed to streamline your routine without sacrificing efficacy or causing a fuss. Combining gentle exfoliation and powerful hydration in every step, it’ll transform your skin in as little as 7 days. Plus, it’s a numbered system, so you know exactly what order to apply each product in for a truly mindless experience from step 1 to step 4.
PRO TIP: Experts suggest taking short, regular breaks every 60 minutes or so to optimize daily productivity. Obviously, when you have priorities to accomplish, mid-day self-care, journaling, or sleeping is likely not feasible, but even getting up to stretch for 5 minutes or make a cup of tea can do the trick to help boost your daily performance.
