Do you need a POWER PAUSE?

As women, we are told to push. Long before childbirth and in almost everything we do. As a result, we tell ourselves to ‘lean in’, ‘hustle’ and ‘keep going’, as we power on through the relentless, back-to-back demands of our daily lives. As we push harder, we sleep less, hoping that somehow our fatigued bodies and foggy minds will catch up. We are so scared to stop.

- By JAYNE MORRIS

But no more. Across the UK, an increasing number of professional women are giving themselves permission to pause. Some are choosing to take a step back by changing roles, others by reducing hours, or even taking a temporary break – and not just to have babies. They aren't downshifting because they are downgrading, they are downshifting as a strategic move to support them in levelling up.

They are taking a power pause

Unlike burnout, which can creep up on us like quicksand and enforce crisis career breaks that often come at huge career cost, a power pause is intentional. It is a conscious choice to step away for a few months to rest, reset and return stronger.

I've seen the devastating consequences when people ignore the warning signs of an impending burnout for too long. Yet I've also witnessed how powerful it can be when someone presses pause on their own terms.

Why pausing feels so hard

Our relationship with rest is in need of a rebrand. We are taught from a young age to ‘work hard’ and ‘do our best’. As a result, rest has taken a back seat and been seen as an indulgence we can't afford. Productivity has become currency. If we aren't being busy all of the time, we feel like we are wasting time, or that others will perceive us as weak.

On paper, rest should be simple. Take time off, recharge, come back fresh. Yet in reality, our cultural conditioning makes this deeply counterintuitive.

We have convinced ourselves that constant exhaustion is just how it is for everyone. We've normalised ‘pushing through'. But it isn't normal. It isn't natural. It isn't sustainable.