Recently caught yourself lamenting about how dark it is at 5 pm? Or wondering how it's already November? You're not alone. We’re somehow in the final sprint of 2025, and if your motivation is running on fumes, welcome to the club.
This year (maybe more than ever) has demanded a lot from creative teams. Tight budgets, smaller headcounts, and constant pressure to use AI to produce bigger, splashier campaigns. It’s ok to admit you’re exhausted and/or overwhelmed. You’re in good company if you’re bona fide, motivation-level-zero burned out.
Take heart, fellow weary creatives. Before you power through your week to another "restful" weekend, let's find some soul salve in the form of easily digestible ideas for feeling better. We won’t edit your scrolling or your Netflix (at least not completely), but we’ll help you leave your next weekend (or at least a day off) feeling deeply rested and refreshed.
Why Rest Matters (Especially as a Creative)
We'll say it again, rest is not indulgent. It's proven to increase creativity, productivity, and overall well-being, period. Studies show you actually get more done when you work less. A healthy rhythm of work and rest is core to our human design. And we’re better, in every way, when we embrace it. So consider this your permission to pause.
If you manage people or projects, you already know this. The best creative thinking happens when people have space to recover. So here's your official permission to pause.
The Seven Types of Rest
Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith is a physician and author with extensive research on rest. Her TED Talk and accompanying TED Ideas article cover seven types of rest we all need. Her research shows exhaustion isn’t just physical. It’s mental, emotional, and creative too. Her framework outlines seven kinds of rest that together create a full recovery system.
“Exhaustion is multidimensional, so recovery must be too.”
-Saundra Dalton-Smith MD
We’ve adapted her approach for people who live and work in creative worlds. Because we live in a space where ideas are often commodities, deadlines move fast, and inspiration can feel like a finite resource. Together, these seven spheres of rest form a holistic recovery system:
1. Physical
Replenishing the body’s energy reserves.
- Passive: sleep, naps, stillness.
- Active: stretching, yoga, massage, or gentle movement to release tension.
2. Mental
Quieting the mind’s constant hum.
- Take short breaks between tasks or meetings.
- Journal or brain-dump before bed to clear looping thoughts.
3. Sensory
Reducing stimulation to reset your nervous system.
- Step away from screens, noise, and bright lights.
- Build moments of silence or natural light into your day.
4. Creative
Refilling your imagination with wonder.
- Seek beauty: nature, art, music, architecture.
- Give yourself unstructured time to explore and notice again.
5. Emotional
Releasing the pressure to perform or please. Take the mask off.
- Be honest about how you’re feeling. Freedom to share joys or hard things.
- Spend time with people who let you show up as you are.
6. Social
Reconnecting with relationships that restore rather than drain.
- Identify which connections deplete you and which refill you.
- Prioritize time with people who energize, support, and inspire you.
7. Spiritual
Finding meaning, belonging, and alignment beyond yourself.
- Reflect on values and purpose; ask what gives your work significance.
- Practice mindfulness, gratitude, or service to something bigger.
How to Actually Rest (Without Quitting Your Job)
1. Make Room for Rest (Mental / Emotional)
Rest never happens by accident. Slow down on purpose. Clear a little space and let yourself be unhurried for a while. Block off time (one day a week if possible, but any amount of time is great). Put your phone away or turn off notifications.
P.S. If you’re the person who does it all (and found us while job hunting!), we recently wrote about that here.
2. Let Your Body Catch Up (Physical/Sensory)
Your body is often the first thing to feel hurry and the last thing to recover. Move slowly enough to feel human again. Do less than you think you should. Sleep in. Take a slow walk. Breathe. Stretch.
3. Nourish Your Energy (Physical)
Eat good food. Drink water with electrolytes. Take a nap. Let ordinary things be sacred again. Cook a new recipe from scratch. Get a fresh smoothie. Explore sauna time, cold plunge or hot yoga. Work out, gently, if it feels restorative.
4. Refill Your Imagination (Creative)
Wonder is fuel for the soul. Step outside, notice beauty, and let yourself feel joy and delight.
Go somewhere stunning. Listen to music. Be moved by nature or art.
5. Be Honest With Yourself (Emotional)
Hurry numbs what’s real. Tell the truth about how you’re doing, even if it’s messy. That’s where healing begins. Journal honestly; don’t filter yourself. Feel your feelings.
6. Spend Time Alone (Emotional/Spiritual)
Solitude isn’t loneliness; it’s friendship with yourself. Quiet helps you remember who you are. Take a walk or a drive. Sit in silence. Read. Journal.
7. Be With People (Social)
Spend time with a friend or several. For rest days, especially, focus on people who are safe, kind, and encouraging. Have a long dinner. Do something fun together.
8. Remember What Matters (Spiritual / Purpose)
Let your mind return to what’s good. Gratitude, meaning, love, and purpose (not performance). Get outside (nature, always). Say thank you. Notice what’s already enough.
9. Ease Back Gently (Mental/Sensory)
Don’t rush into Monday (or the next day). Leave margin. Carry quiet with you into the week.
Move gently. Light a candle. Don’t rush the evening.
10. Begin Again Lightly (Mental/Emotional)
Start fresh, not frantic. Do the next right thing, one unhurried step at a time.
Move gently. Have a slow morning if you’re able. Keep what restored you. Let the rest go.
The Wrap Up: Rest is a Skill
The point isn’t to master rest. It’s to feel better, healthier, and more human. The point is to make it a part of how you live, work, and thrive.
For creative leaders, giving yourself (and your team) permission to recover isn't compassion. It's strategy.
There’s no pressure to complete every step. It can be helpful to read through the list and choose a few ideas that feel most supportive for you. For example, every rest day (or session) doesn’t have to include social and solitude time. And some days might need more emotional processing, whereas others might be more joyful and fun. Rest is all about supporting yourself with max compassion. Do that, and you’re perfectly on your way to feeling rested, refreshed, and restored.
Once you’re rested up and ready for what’s next, we're here. An integral part of getting rest is knowing when to ask for help (and if we're self-interested, when to hire, haha). We connect creative teams and individuals with flexible, human-centered partnerships that actually work.
