Burnout is widespread, so make rest intentional
With roughly 66% of workers reporting burnout, summer is an ideal time to reset by using vacation days, long weekends, flex days, or those increasingly rare summer Fridays. But to truly benefit from this downtime, it pays to plan ahead, making rest intentional rather than an afterthought. This is especially critical for women and professionals of color, who face systemic stressors such as persistent pay disparities and reduced lifetime earnings due to unpaid caregiving.
“We’re often navigating more than just our job descriptions,” says Ashley Burton-Mims, burnout coach and founder of Emerald & Rose Consulting in Detroit. As a Black entrepreneur and working mother, Burton-Mims understands firsthand the overlapping demands that contribute to burnout for women of color, from the emotional toll of microaggressions to the pressure to constantly prove themselves. “This constant state of hypervigilance and overfunctioning fast-tracks us to burnout,” she explains. She knows this from experience: years of pushing herself in corporate retail while ignoring warning signs ultimately led to her body shutting down so severely she couldn’t walk. “If you don’t make time to rest, your body will force you to,” she warns.
And burnout doesn’t only harm the person experiencing it—it affects their entire team. Colleagues, direct reports, and managers can all feel the strain when someone tries to power through exhaustion, leading to lower work quality, strained relationships, and growing resentment. Rochelle Younan-Montgomery, a burnout coach and founder of The Reset in Minneapolis, has seen this pattern in her own life. Growing up in an immigrant family that valued hard work over rest shaped her early career. “Being helpful, being useful, was how you earned love,” she recalls. As a queer, biracial Arab woman working in mostly white environments, she felt she had to overachieve constantly to be taken seriously.
That relentless performance eventually took a toll. “I was short in emails, I was spicy in meetings,” she admits. Recognizing the need for change, she took just two days off—and it made a difference. The first day was pure rest: lying in a hammock, playing with her dog, spending time with her young daughters, and simply letting herself be human. By day two, she felt ready to journal and reflect more deeply.
“Everything poured out,” she says. She realized her frustration wasn’t random but stemmed from misalignment with her values. This insight helped her communicate more clearly and kindly when she returned to work. “I was clear, kind, calm, and thorough. And it worked,” she says. The experience reinforced a crucial lesson: “I’m allowed to pause, reflect, and choose differently.”
Rest is a responsibility
“Self-care isn’t selfish—it’s strategic,” says Burton-Mims. And it’s more than bubble baths or luxury retreats. True self-care includes setting boundaries and listening to your body before you reach exhaustion. Here are some ways to approach rest more intentionally:
Announce your boundaries.
Take a cue from viral TikTok creator Melani Sanders of the “We Do Not Care” club: be open about centering self-care—it often gives others permission to do the same. This is especially powerful for leaders. “When leaders are depleted, creativity, communication and decision-making suffer,” notes Burton-Mims. “But when leaders model rest and emotional regulation, they create cultures of safety and sustainability.”
Start by actually blocking off time on your calendar and turning on your out-of-office notification. For a true mental break, Younan-Montgomery even suggests removing email and social media apps from your phone while away. “If your phone is still running your nervous system, you’re not actually off—you’re just scrolling in a different ZIP code.”
Identify what you’re missing.
Rest matters, but it’s not the only way to recharge. Younan-Montgomery recommends asking yourself: When was the last time you laughed until your stomach hurt? Or had sex that left you feeling alive, whether with a partner or alone? “Burnout doesn’t just come from stress. It comes from unfinished stress cycles,” she explains. Movement, breathwork, laughter, crying, and safe connection aren’t luxuries—they help complete those cycles and tell our bodies, “The danger has passed. You can rest now.”
Plan with intention.
If you’ve blocked out recovery time, think about what will actually recharge you. Younan-Montgomery suggests doing at least one thing that truly matters to you.
Consider what energizes you:
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If you love being generous, try volunteering at a soup kitchen or animal shelter.
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If creativity fuels you, bring your sketchbook or sign up for a cooking class.
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For restoration, try gentle yoga or meditation.
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If you crave community, attend a local Meetup or a CreativeMornings event—a free monthly lecture series with a global presence focused on nontransactional connection.
“In a world so focused on productivity, that human connection piece gets lost,” says Tina Roth Eisenberg, founder of CreativeMornings. Experiencing early burnout taught her the value of prioritizing rest and connection as core leadership practices. “Leaders who are deeply connected to themselves are way more empathetic, clear, and courageous because they’re so solid in themselves.”
Burton-Mims agrees, and her own hard-won insights now guide her coaching work. “No one should have to sacrifice their well-being to lead or succeed,” she says. “When we prioritize ourselves, we’re not abandoning others—we’re refusing to abandon ourselves.”