Do you ever feel guilty when you’re doing nothing, even when you deserve the rest?

No. Doing nothing is never just "doing nothing". I dont care about being productive. I care about how I feel, and why I feel the way I do. There is no reason for me to be productive for the sake of being productive. I do things for specific reasons. Even if that reason is simply "Somehow I am just draw to do this thing".

Always and I hate it.

I tell anyone that asks “I’m pondering”

Yes. All the time. Even when I am sick af or burnt out and know I NEED the rest I simply cannot make myself do nothing. There's a constant tab open in my mind where I am tracking tasks that could/should be done. It's the worst and people harp on my inability to just rest all the time. This is partly why I smoke weed, it's the only way I can force myself to pause.

I struggled coming out of Covid shut down that I didnt learn a new hobby or do anything radically different. I think as people we are too hard on ourselves. Rest is productive.

You don't have to be on the go 24/7. Sometimes resting, relaxing, mentally taking stock of things and doing absolutely nothing can be useful in its own way. It's not something you should necessarily feel guilty about.

No. After working 44 years, I've earned this retirement.

Yarp, it be adhd for me.

Yes. I go on vacation and I still code or read. Otherwise, something is missing. I think it works similar to FOMO. At least for me.

Know this woman who refused to rest until she actually became sick and confined to bed (with a cold or flu, which she caught often). She trained her daughter in this pattern. It’s a genuine unhealthy mental state. I think were have to retrain our brains to accept without guilt that rest is good.

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no specially when I think I deserved it,

I used to. Not anymore. Rest is just as important as working, if you burnout it's really, really hard to get back to baseline. When I needed to, I scheduled my relaxing time as a 100% guilt free time. Everything that was "pending" went to a notes app or something, so I didn't worry about forgetting. Don't let the world let you feel guilty for rest! All animals need rest, us included.

The way my job works some days are just constant nonstop work but there are times like today where I have several hours in between appointments. Since I’ve always had jobs that I heavily micromanaged I always feel very weird just hanging out in between them and looking for things to do

yes always huhu. i feel like im wasting my time laying in bed on my rest days

Story of my life 😅

Hell no. When I have productivity spikes I can literally be doing random shit around the house, getting all my ducks in a row, for like 5 straight hours. So when I’m resting it’s just as intense. I’m in rest mode right now and nothing will ruin it. 

Nope. When you’re aware you’re doing this, close your eyes and really focus on the feeling. Take deep breaths and let the feeling go (if you’re able). 🤷

Mostly I don't. I have never felt bad for resting. Or reading, or enjoying my day. I did feel guilty for not tidying and cleaning when I looked around me and my home looked very messy but I felt tired and couldn't find the motivation to clean. Ever since my father passed away almost two years ago I felt like I didn't have the energy. At the beginning everything was hard, later I could work, socialize if I had to, I learned to drive, I could do many things, but still didn't have the energy to properly clean. A couple of months ago I hired a cleaning service, because I hated feeling that way. And the guilt is gone.

Oh ya. I’m retired now early and feel this even. Little tiny nagging voice. Not sure if this helps anyone else but I find making “to do” lists of relaxation and leisure activities helps. I know it sounds crazy, but it tricks my brain.

I never get to relax. I always have something to do. Its just what I have to do is not always my first choice. Like right now, this is my time of relaxation. I still have something else to go do but I procrastinate. Not a good thing