Why Do You Feel Guilty for Resting? (And Why You Shouldn’t)

A Letter to the Scholar, the Dreamer, and the Creative Hustler

Dear Growth Mind,

You are not just a student.

You are a thinker, a builder, a side-hustler, a leader in the making — or maybe all at once.

You stay up late at night, juggling responsibilities. Managing a team. Preparing for exams. Chasing vision.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, the voices start:

“Sleep is for the weak.”
“You never buy benz you dey rest.”
“Your mates are moving, you’re here sleeping?”

Slowly, without even realizing it, you begin to believe something dangerous:

Rest is the enemy of progress.

If this sounds like you, stay with me.

I’m writing this from experience — from both the scars and the lessons.

And I need you to understand this:

Nothing could be further from the truth.

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My Story: The Juggle, the Crash, and the Empty Script

Let me paint you a picture.

I am a student.
I am also the President of my department.
I lead WCS — Weca Communication System, our chapel’s media and streaming unit.
I head the graphic design team under Crawford Media.
And on the side, I run my freelance design work.

You could say I am a multifaceted creative.

My life looked like this:

• Meetings
• Chapel live streams
• Design briefs
• Departmental decisions
• Coursework

All running at the same time.

For a long time, I wore that pressure like armour.

I believed:

Doing more = Becoming more

I measured my worth by how much I could carry without breaking.

Then came the semester that humbled me.

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The Exam That Changed Everything

It was a 3-unit course.

I hadn’t been reading ahead. Responsibilities kept taking my time, and I kept telling myself:

“I’ll cover it during exams. It’s just CSC. I’ll read and pass as usual.”

When exams came, I switched into survival mode.

• No sleep
• Back-to-back cramming
• Running on pure willpower

I was physically present.

Eyes open. Pages turning.

But mentally?

My brain had already shut down.

Nothing was entering.

At that moment, I knew something was wrong.

In the exam hall, I stared at questions I had “read” the night before.

And I felt… nothing.

Blank.

I submitted an almost empty script.

The CGPA drop hurt.

But the confidence hit hurt more.

The painful truth?

I didn’t fail because I didn’t read.
I failed because I read without rest.

With a lot of prayer, I came out with a C.

But the lesson stayed deeper than the grade.

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What Rest Actually Does to You

This is not motivation.

This is biology.

And if you are a student, creative, or hustler, you need to understand this.

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Your Brain Needs Sleep to Store Information

When you sleep, your brain processes and stores what you’ve learned.

Without that process:

Information doesn’t stick.

You can read for hours without rest and retain less than someone who studied less but slept properly.

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Stress Blocks Your Memory

Sleep deprivation increases cortisol (your stress hormone).

High cortisol levels:

• Block memory retrieval
• Cause mental blanks
• Reduce clarity

This is why you can “know” something and still forget it under pressure.

---

Your Body Repairs While You Rest

During sleep, your body:

• Repairs tissues
• Strengthens your immune system
• Resets internal systems

Without rest, you don’t just feel tired.

You become physically weaker.

---

Your Emotions Become Unstable

When you’re exhausted:

• Small problems feel overwhelming
• Criticism hits harder
• Patience disappears
• Decisions become reactive

For a student leader or creative, this is dangerous.

---

Creativity Cannot Function on Exhaustion

For creatives, this matters deeply.

Ideas don’t come from a tired mind.

They come from a rested one.

Every time I stepped away and came back refreshed, my work improved instantly.

---

Rest Is Maintenance, Not Laziness

Your body is not a machine.

And even machines need maintenance.

Rest is not laziness. It is maintenance.

---

The Voices That Lie to You

Campus culture has normalized burnout.

You hear things like:

“Sleep is for the weak.”
“Your mates are grinding.”
“No sleep till success.”

Let’s be clear.

This is not about being lazy.

This is not about avoiding hard work.

This is about sustainability.

You cannot build a big life on a broken body.

The grind you’re proud of will eventually break you — if you don’t learn to rest.

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Rest Is More Than Sleep

This is something I had to learn the hard way.

You can sleep for eight hours and still feel drained.

Because rest is not just physical.

It is multi-dimensional.

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Types of Rest You Need

• Physical Rest → Sleep, relaxation
• Mental Rest → Breaks, silence, stepping away
• Emotional Rest → Expressing yourself, safe conversations
• Creative Rest → Music, nature, new environments
• Social Rest → Less draining interactions, more meaningful ones
• Spiritual Rest → Prayer, reflection, purpose

When I started treating rest as a full system, everything changed.

• My designs improved
• My leadership stabilized
• My memory became sharper

I stopped running on fumes.

I started running on fuel.

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The Bottom Line

I didn’t survive juggling:

• Department presidency
• WCS
• Crawford Media
• Freelance design
• Academics

Because I was exceptional.

I survived because I learned to rest intentionally.

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Busy vs Effective

Less rest does not make you productive.
It makes you busy.

And those are not the same thing.

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Your goals deserve a better version of you.

Your team deserves a present leader.

Your creativity deserves a clear mind.

And your body deserves care.

---

A Question You Shouldn’t Ignore

What would change if you treated rest as seriously as you treat your ambitions?

Sit with that.

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Reflection

Before you leave this page, take a moment.

Write down your answers to these:

1. When last did I truly rest, and how did it affect my performance?
2. Which areas of my life feel most depleted right now?
3. What voices am I listening to about rest?
4. What is one rest habit I will protect this week?

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Final Words

Life is too short.

Your calling is too important.

You cannot keep running on empty.

Say this to yourself:

From today, I prioritize rest as much as I prioritize my work.
From today, I prioritize rest as much as I prioritize my work.
From today, I prioritize rest as much as I prioritize my work.

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Precious Adebowale

If you read this to the end, you deserve a cold Hollandia and eight uninterrupted hours of sleep.

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