Permission to rest

I first want to just say thank you.

The response I got to last week’s post about burnout and leaving my job truly blew me away. So many of you shared similar stories of what you went through in the past or what you’re going through now. Sharing this with me means more than I can say.

If burnout’s been on your mind lately, I also started a new newsletter called After Burnout where I’m digging deeper into what comes next. It’s a no-frills, I-write-when-I-feel-like-it newsletter and it’s been such an meaningful outlet in just the first week. You can find it here.

Right now, I’m in the middle of my 10 days off between jobs.

This seems inconsequential to most (I know the Europeans reading this are judging me for only taking 10 days) but I’ve never actually taken a break. No summers off during college. I went straight from undergrad to grad school to work, so there really was no time off.

It would’ve been easy for me to fill this time with side projects, errands I’ve been putting off, or planning my first 30-60-90 for the new role. (And I almost did, but thankfully my brain told me to stop.)

Instead, I gave myself permission to rest.

Not rot-on-the-couch rest, which is also totally acceptable to be clear. This was intentional rest for me. The kind where I actually reset my nervous system and remember who I am outside of work.

I have a long history of tying my identity to my career (we’re working on this) and evaluating my success or failures by how I’m performing at work. I know we’re all multifaceted humans, and while it’s great to derive joy from the work you do seeing how much of our lives we actually spend working, it can’t be your only source of joy.

So here’s what I’ve been doing (as I write this from the patio of a rented beach house on the Georgia coast):

• Long walks without headphones

• Journaling—like, actually pen-to-paper journaling

• Pilates to get myself out of my mind and into my body

• Running again! I have to rebuild my endurance so we’re back to 2-3 mile runs

• Finally digging into the million physical books I have in the house

None of this is groundbreaking. But together? It’s exactly what I needed, and it’s giving me the reset I need.

If you’re changing jobs or you just need a mental reboot, a day or two off won’t solve burnout but it can help you reconnect with who you are outside of work. You deserve that.