--- title: How to Rest Your Overworked Mind description: Cognitive exhaustion can cause a drop in effectiveness and a rise in distractedness. canonical: https://time.com/4088830/cognitive-exhaustion/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-02T05:01:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:17.206Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How to Rest Your Overworked Mind og:description: Cognitive exhaustion can cause a drop in effectiveness and a rise in distractedness og:url: https://time.com/4088830/cognitive-exhaustion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd828b44ff7eedfe7/69886e4c2dce014da59e6320/business-man-tired-office.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: business-man-tired-office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Rest Your Overworked Mind twitter:description: Cognitive exhaustion can cause a drop in effectiveness and a rise in distractedness twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd828b44ff7eedfe7/69886e4c2dce014da59e6320/business-man-tired-office.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Rest Your Overworked Mind ## Video: Do Brain Exercises Really Keep You Mentally Fit? [Watch (HLS stream): Do Brain Exercises Really Keep You Mentally Fit?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/t67dFcgw.m3u8) (2:03)  _Published 2015-05-15. Do Brain Exercises Really Keep You Mentally Fit?_ by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Nov 2, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Stressful day at the office Stressful day at the officeGetty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Nov 2, 2015 5:01 AM UTC In the go-go-go world of today we need to be sure we’re giving our mind ample opportunity to rest and relax — recognizing when we need a mental break. I usually [take a walk](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/05/a-philosophy-of-walking/). Or go to a yoga class. It turns out how we rest our minds has a big impact. Taking a walk isn’t enough, it depends on where you’re walking. In [_Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062114867/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0062114867&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=IY4N56MH77GQ43C2), Daniel Goleman elaborates on cognitive exhaustion: --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/02/cognitive-exhaustion/)**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** **_Read next:_** [**_5 Reasons to Take a Real Lunch Break Every Day_**](http://time.com/money/4078277/take-a-real-lunch-break/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4088830/cognitive-exhaustion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4088830/cognitive-exhaustion/"},"headline":"How to Rest Your Overworked Mind","datePublished":"2015-11-02T05:01:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:03:17.206Z","description":"Cognitive exhaustion can cause a drop in effectiveness and a rise in distractedness.","url":"https://time.com/4088830/cognitive-exhaustion/","keywords":["Psychology","Brain","cognition"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd828b44ff7eedfe7/69886e4c2dce014da59e6320/business-man-tired-office.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd828b44ff7eedfe7/69886e4c2dce014da59e6320/business-man-tired-office.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"business-man-tired-office","caption":"business-man-tired-office","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4088830/cognitive-exhaustion/","name":"How to Rest Your Overworked Mind"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Do Brain Exercises Really Keep You Mentally Fit?","description":"Do Brain Exercises Really Keep You Mentally Fit?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/t67dFcgw/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-05-15T21:17:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/t67dFcgw.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4088830/cognitive-exhaustion/","duration":"PT2M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4088830/cognitive-exhaustion/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```