The Conscious Advantage of Rest
Last year was an amazing year for my business. My calendar was packed full of events,workshops, travel, and projects that required my full energy and attention. Watch this space for new keynotes and a brand new long term learning program!
On New Year’s Day, I was really poorly and stuck in bed with strep throat (0 out of 5 stars, definitely do NOT recommend. It was brutal). It was frustrating, to say the least, but not entirely a surprise. The down side of 2025, for me, was that I ended up ill for a week or more every few months. One huge contributory factor was that I didn’t prioritise rest enough.
So, as I started 2026, and started to think about plans and priorities for the year, I very quickly decided that rest needed to be at the top of my list. I wondered why it had been so easy for me to ignore all the signs and signals that I needed rest, choosing instead to push through, and why taking time out made me feel guilty or seemed indulgent. I know a lot of people who share a similar mindset around rest, which is why I chose to share these reflections. I hope they inspire you to rest more for success in 2026.
For today’s blog, I’ve used several of my conscious leadership principles to investigate what might be blocking rest, what my mindset might be around rest, and how this needs to change.
Awareness
Awareness is the starting point for pretty much every aspect of conscious leadership. Awareness helps us notice the warning signs before they turn into burnout. When we pay attention to our energy and emotions, we can act sooner and make healthier choices.
2025 me: only allowing myself to be aware of tiredness and overwhelm when they had escalated
2026 me: choosing rest as a strategic priority when i notice the first signs of tiredness and overwhelm
Boundaries
Without clearly defined boundaries, it’s far too easy to do one more call, one more email, or one more task. Without boundaries, my working day extends to evenings and weekends, because as a small business owner, there is always something to do. My 2026 aims around boundaries are twofold: firstly, to clearly define boundaries around my working hours, and secondly, to put protected time for rest into my calendar exactly like I would do for an important meeting. Being clear on work/life boundaries and planning recovery time ultimately means we can work with more focus and less stress.
2025 me: most days just ‘one more thing’ turned into 10 more things; pushing through busy periods and working all the time
2026 me: clear boundaries on working hours; planning and following rest periods in my calendar
Discomfort
Rest can feel uncomfortable for people who spend a lot of time doing and achieving. That discomfort is quite reveal about our habits and beliefs around rest. I realised I needed a mindset reset here, because I often feel guilty when I slow down and rest, as it feels like a missed opportunity to move my business forward..
2025 me: feel guilty about rest; see it as a luxury or an indulgence. Don’t rest.
2026 me: notice I feel guilty about rest, then remind myself that rest is a strategic priority which supports progress. Take a rest.
Habits
Habits offer a great opportunity to build small moments of rest and recovery into your day or week, which will become automatic over time. For me, habits around rest link strongly to the boundaries I set. Habits can become embedded intentionally or unintentionally, so taking a moment to evaluate current habits and looking at the opportunity to adjust only one or two is usually an effective way to harness their power. My focus this year is on getting more sleep.
2025 me: stay up late in textbook example of revenge bedtime procrastination, then scroll endlessly on social media once in bed
2026 me: establish the habit of going to bed at a set time. Put phone down out of reach to avoid scrolling and blue light exposure.
Kindness
How we talk to ourselves shows the extent to which we treat ourselves with self-compassion. Every time I got sick last year, my first thought was to tell myself that I should have managed things better. Then I needed to remind myself that’s an unhelpful thought, and to choose self-compassion instead. Speaking kindly to ourselves makes it easier to choose rest without guilt. It reminds us that prioritising our energy is a vital part of sustaining high performing leadership.
2025 me: still leaning toward self-critical
2026 me: striving to be self-compassionate
Ownership
Ownership means accepting that taking proper rest is my responsibility. I can’t blame the pace or volume of work, or other external factors, for my lack of recovery time. The key here is to recognise where I have control over my rest options, no matter how small or limited those options may be, Leaders who role model ownership show others that there is usually an element of any situation where taking ownership is helpful and increases our sense of autonomy.
2025 me: blaming the volume of work for my lack of rest
2026 me: remembering even when work is busy, I can take ownership of my rest and make choices accordingly.
Reframing thoughts
Our thoughts shape our actions, so the way we think about rest is vital. For many years, I thought rest meant not being productive. Now, I need to remind myself that rest is essential for both preparation and recovery, and rest is a strategic business advantage. A small change in thinking turns the way you might approach rest into a performance advantage.
2025 me: tended to default to ‘rest is time wasted when I have so much to do’
2026 me: remind myself rest is an essential part of the workflow so I don’t burn out / get ill
Zest
Zest adds energy and enthusiasm to life and leadership. Rest is a vital source of fuel for zest. Without rest, that spark of energy and enthusiasm fades. Rest fuels zest by restoring energy and focus. If I’m speaking, or facilitating a workshop, my energy and enthusiasm needs to be on point so I can do my absolute best work possible.
2025 me: underestimating the importance of rest for zest
2026 me: realising the link between zest and rest as I write this blog and feeling determined to protect my zest with more rest!
Here’s your ‘call to pause’
So many of us tell ourselves that rest is a reward, a luxury, an indulgence, or something to do when we have more time.
Consider this blog an invitation to start understanding rest as a strategic business priority. Resting strengthens and sustains our energy focus, and performance.
Conscious leaders understand that sustainable high performance relies on many factors, including rest. Effort and hours at the desk do not determine high performance. In fact, research from Stanford University economics professor John Pencavel shows that productivity per hour drops significantly after 50 working hours a week, and any extra hours after 55 hours a week have minimal or zero results. Instead, overworking leads to burnout, more mistakes, and more accidents, costing more in rework and remediation.
As you start 2026, think about where rest fits in your life. How can you protect it and treat it as essential to success? The more we value rest, the stronger our capacity to lead, connect, and thrive becomes.
If you’d like to explore how conscious leadership can enhance your people’s performance and wellbeing this year, I’d love to connect. You can get in touch by email or book a call to chat.
Dr Sarah Whyte helps leaders get their REPs up—retention, engagement, and performance—through the Conscious Leadership Advantage. A leadership and resilience expert with two decades’ experience working across finance, law, technology, and health, Sarah equips leaders to stay grounded, connected, and commercially sharp with her warmth, humour, and authenticity.
