Today I’m going behind the scenes and talking about my ongoing recovery from workaholism and my experience navigating burnout.

That might sound like a bummer, but I felt enlightened by writing this newsletter, plus I’m excited to share the reflection prompts I developed for myself as I endeavor to enter 2026 with more boundaries around work so I can lean into rest and creativity.

I send a bonus newsletter for premium subscribers whenever there are five Wednesdays in a month, but everyone can read a preview below. I hope you enjoy and I hope that you have a wonderful New Year! I’ll be back in everyone’s inboxes next week on the 7th.

I love a particular painting by the artist Brit, known as Britchida, that features two charts side by side: one where we alternate doing with resting, and one where we do things nonstop without rest and then get sick, which forces us to rest. (You can see the painting on their about page; it’s the third one from the bottom.)

This happened to me in December, when I got a cold with a cough that lasted ten days!

The weirdest thing happened while I was sick. When I went to relax, I felt stuck. I knew I could reach for one of the novels on the stack by my bed, but I froze. I could take a bath or a nap, lay on the floor and listen to music, go for a walk, but I felt paralyzed by choosing a fun task that wasn’t one of the things on my work to-do list.

Had I forgotten how to rest?