Rest is preparation for effort you have not reached yet.

Rest is not the space after work is finished, because work is never finished. It is the part of the cycle where capacity is rebuilt for the effort that has not happened yet. Seen that way, it sits before the work rather than after it, and skipping it means arriving at tomorrow’s demands with less than they require.

Stop framing rest as a reward for what you did and start framing it as the preparation for what is next. Notice how that changes when you take it. The timing usually improves immediately.