As the year begins to stir again, many leaders are returning to full inboxes, full calendars, and the familiar pull to “get back into it.”
But before the pace takes over, it’s worth pausing for a moment – not to slow the year down, but to notice what you’re carrying into it.
For some, the break brought rest.
For others, perspective.
For many, a reminder of what it feels like to think clearly, sleep properly, and be present without urgency humming in the background.
The question now isn’t how quickly you can get back to full speed.
It’s how deliberately you protect what the break gave you.
Over the past year, rest came up constantly in leadership workshops – often accompanied by guilty laughter. Leaders know they need more rest. They just don’t believe they’re allowed to have it.
Yet the most effective leaders I’ve worked with don’t treat rest as indulgence.
They treat it as a performance strategy.
One executive shared that her most important decisions last year came after moments of stillness – a quiet walk, an early night, a morning without meetings.
“I didn’t slow down to escape,” she said. “I slowed down to think.”
We don’t rest because we’re weak.
We rest because leadership requires clarity – and clarity requires capacity.
The research is clear: mental fatigue reduces strategic thinking, impulse control, emotional regulation, and quality of judgement.
Rest isn’t the break from productivity.
It’s the generator of it.
The leaders who lead well over the long term use rest deliberately in three ways:
Rhythm over rescue
Instead of waiting until burnout, they build small pockets of renewal into their weeks.
Boundaries that hold
They say no to the unnecessary so they can say yes to what matters.
Mindset shifts
They see rest as readiness, not laziness.
When teams see their leaders rest – leave on time occasionally, protect thinking space, reset between meetings – something important happens.
Permission spreads.
Energy stabilises.
Mistakes reduce.
Performance becomes sustainable.
As you step back into the year, here’s a simple question worth holding onto:
Is this a moment for more effort – or more energy?
You don’t need to recreate the break.
You just need to carry one element of it forward –
a clearer boundary,
a quieter morning,
a more deliberate pause before decisions.
What you bring with you into the year will shape how you lead through it.
