Dylan Schleicher reviews Rest for 800 CEO Read:

My favorite books are those that plumb both history and science for insights, and introduce me to new examples to frame them with. Rest has that in spades….

But it isn’t just anecdotal evidence, history (of which there is an almost ridiculous wealth of examples from) or philosophy that Pang brings to bear on the issue. Modern science is at the heart of his thesis, and proves these ideas out. What it shows is that letting our minds wander and rest is extremely productive. Modern brain imaging techniques show just how literally electric our brains are with activity when we rest and sleep, filing memories, making sense of the information we’ve ingested and untangling problems even while we’re not consciously aware of it—leading to those eureka moments and flashes of insight that are famous throughout history.

I can’t think of a better book to dive into before beginning a new year, with its requisite making of resolutions. I may even alter some of those resolutions for the better, just as rest makes our work better. It is a brilliant book, and a timely reminder that rest needs to be deliberate, or our work will become debilitating.

I confess I’d not really heard about it before, but 800 CEO Read is a business books Web site / service that grew out of a family-owned bookstore in Wisconsin (it’s actually an interesting evolution, though unfortunately the physical bookstore is now closed). But clearly they have an excellent critical sensibility!