The New Hustle: Reclaiming Rest in our Creative & Cultural Lives.

I think it's safe to say that most creatives and cultural leaders —regardless of the industry—find rest to be uncomfortable, inconvenient, and at times really annoying.

But, i'm beginning to see that unapologetic, unstructured, and guilt-free rest is the superpower behind being a healthy, happy and content cultural leader and creative entrepreneur.

This is the third and final article in this series. There are two other articles that explore the importance of caring for your mental health between creative contracts and how to manage finances while in between contracts.

To close the series, we are focusing on REST.

Before we start, a note on terminology: Throughout this article, I use the terms creatives and cultural leaders as broad, inclusive descriptors. By creatives, I mean artists, makers, producers, writers, performers, designers, freelancers, and others working across the creative and cultural sectors. By cultural leaders, I mean those shaping, supporting, and enabling culture, including consultants, producers, arts managers, local authority officers, funders, programmers, policymakers, and those working within cultural organisations and institutions.

Right lets go!

Question: What if, as creatives and cultural leaders, we reframed periods of rest, recovery, and "inactivity" as essential stages in the development process? What if rest became the breeding ground for success?

But first, let's briefly address burnout.

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The Hidden Cost of Burnout.

Research shows that burnout has become one of the defining wellbeing challenges in our modern working life. According to Mental Health UK, 91% of UK adults experienced high or extreme levels of pressure or stress during the previous year, while one in three reported experiencing these levels of stress often or always (Mental Health UK, 2025).

Research across the creative sector is even more alarming (but sadly unsurprising). A 2024 survey of more than 2,000 professionals across the media, marketing and creative sectors found that 70% had experienced burnout within the previous 12 months (Never Not Creative, 2024).

Yes, 70%!!!

As creatives and cultural leaders, burnout often shows up not as exhaustion alone, but as a loss of creativity or enjoyment in work we once loved. As our creative lives are intertwined with emotional investment, financial uncertainty, irregular schedules, and the relentless pressure to keep producing fresh ideas. All the while, we're balancing family commitments, maintaining an impressively online presence, and often working part-time jobs just to keep the lights on.

Managing this level of prolonged stress can keep the body's nervous system in a heightened state of activation. From a physiological perspective, the sympathetic nervous system—the body's "fight, flight, or freeze" response—remains switched on and which then eventually leads to burnout.

According to the World Health Organisation (2019), burnout can look like:

• Persistent exhaustion – you're tired even after resting.

• Loss of motivation – work that once excited you feels draining.

• Increased cynicism – you become negative, detached, or emotionally distant.

• Reduced creativity and focus – ideas feel harder to generate and concentration suffers.

• Feeling ineffective – you begin to question your competence despite evidence of past success.

So, why do we find it so difficult to rest? In a Western capitalist culture that continually equates productivity with worth, busyness with success, and constant output with professional commitment, rest can begin to feel less like recovery and more like risk; and this is perhaps one of the greatest contradictions of modern creative life.

While we celebrate originality, innovation, and imagination, we often overlook the ancient and proven practices of rest that allow us to flourish.

At times, creatives can mistake the burnout symptoms for laziness, a lack of motivation, or even a loss of purpose and ambition. But in reality, these signs may simply indicate that the nervous system is asking for recovery.

Why Our Brain Needs Downtime.

Instead of seeing rest as a reward for high-functioning grin and bear it productivity, what if we saw rest as a fundamental requirement for productivity?

What if it came first?

Neuroscience suggests that periods of mental downtime help replenish attention, consolidate memories, strengthen learning, and improve creative problem-solving. The brain continues processing information even when we appear to be doing nothing (Jabr, 2013).

Just think about it, how often do solutions arrive during a walk, in the shower, or while making a cup of tea. These moments are not interruptions to creative work. They are often where creative work happening in a state of rest.

Other modern neuroscience research identifies that Default Mode Network (DMN), a network of interconnected brain becomes active when we are not focused on an external task.

Studies by Marcus Raichle and colleagues explore how recent brain imaging found that during moments of wakeful rest—such as daydreaming, walking, reflecting, or allowing the mind to wander—the brain remains highly active, engaging in processes linked to memory consolidation, self-reflection, future planning, meaning-making, and creative insight (Raichle et al., 2001).

When we intentionally slow down and rest, we are signalling to the nervous system that it is safe to move out of a constant state of alert and into the parasympathetic state - often referred to as the body's "rest and restore" mode.

In this way, rest is not the opposite of progress—it is one of the conditions that helps propel it forward.

For creatives and cultural leaders, this finding is particularly significant. It suggests that stepping away from work is not necessarily stepping away from creativity. Some of our most intriguing ideas, connections, and solutions emerge precisely when we stop actively trying to solve a problem and allow the mind the space to process, reflect, and imagine.

Reframing Rest & How Success is Measured.

Professional careers are rarely linear. They move through cycles of effort, uncertainty, recovery, opportunity, and renewal.

So, the solution here, isn't a one size fits all model for rest and recovery, but an opportunity to offer a series of provocations that might help inspire a new rhythm whatever season you find yourself in.

Instead of asking what did I achieve today? Ask what kind of professional life am I building?

The below five frameworks —all of which I've tried myself— are reflections on sustainable creative practice, informed research on recovery, self-efficacy, positive psychology, creativity, and performance cycle (Bandura, 1997; Sonnentag and Fritz, 2007; Seligman, 2011; Sio and Ormerod, 2009).

1. Measure Recovery, Not Just Output

Provocation: What if recovery was considered productive?

Instead of tracking only what you produced this week, track how well you recovered.

Ask yourself:

• Did I get enough sleep?

• Did I take regular breaks?

• Did I spend time outdoors?

• Did I disconnect from work?

New Metric Suggestion: Recovery Score. Rate yourself weekly (1–10) on energy, sleep quality, movement, and emotional wellbeing.

Success becomes sustaining your creative capacity, not simply exhausting it.

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2. Track Ideas, Not Deliverables

Provocation: What if unfinished ideas counted as progress?

Many creative breakthroughs emerge during periods when nothing appears to be happening.

Keep an "Idea Log" and record:

• New concepts

• Interesting conversations

• Questions you're exploring

• Unexpected insights

New Metric Suggestion: Idea Generation Index. Measure how many ideas, observations, or sparks of inspiration you collected each week rather than only completed outputs.

A creative life is built on ideas long before results appear.

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3. Measure Courage Instead of Outcomes

Provocation: What if success was defined by actions within your control?

Creative careers contain significant uncertainty. You cannot control whether someone commissions your work, offers a contract, or responds to an application.

You can control whether you show up. Track:

• Applications submitted

• Pitches sent

• Networking conversations

• New skills attempted

New Metric Suggestion: Courage Count. Reward yourself for taking meaningful action, regardless of outcome.

This shifts the focus from validation to participation.

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4. Create a Renewal Portfolio

Provocation: What activities genuinely restore you?

Athletes build recovery plans, but creatives rarely do. Make a list of activities that consistently replenish your energy:

• Walking

• Reading

• Time in nature

• Visiting galleries

• Faith practices

• Exercise

• Meaningful conversations

New Metric Suggestion: Renewal Hours. Track how many hours each week you spent doing activities that restore rather than deplete you.

Then, renewal becomes intentional rather than accidental.

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5. Review Your Creative Seasons

Provocation: What if your career is cyclical rather than linear?

Many creatives judge themselves harshly during periods of uncertainty because they expect constant momentum.

Instead, identify which season you're currently in:

• Effort (active creation)

• Uncertainty (waiting and searching)

• Recovery (rest and reflection)

• Opportunity (new possibilities emerging)

• Renewal (new energy and direction)

New Metric Suggestion: Seasonal Alignment Ask: "Am I trying to force a season I'm not currently in?"

Success is not always acceleration. Sometimes it's recognising what season you're in and responding appropriately.

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Before I go, it's important to say that I'm not a medical professional, neuroscientist, or psychologist.

What I've shared here comes from my own experiences of burnout, conversations with other creatives, and research that has helped me better understand the relationship between creativity, rest, and wellbeing. These are honest reflections and practical strategies that have worked for me, but they are not a substitute for professional advice or support.

If you are concerned about your mental health, experiencing persistent symptoms of burnout, anxiety, depression, or struggling to cope, please speak with your GP/Doctor or a qualified healthcare professional. For professional advice and support in the UK, visit NHS Mental Health Services.

If this article resonated with you, let me know. You're also welcome to join the community, where creatives and cultural leaders are reimagining what sustainable creative careers can look like—together. Join the mailing list HERE

Until next time, be kind to yourself, honour the season you're in, and remember: rest is not the absence of progress.

Love,

Sara x

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References:

Boucsein, W. and Thum, M. (1995) Recovery from Strain under Different Work/Rest Schedules.

Jabr, F. (2013) 'Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime', Scientific American.

Mental Health UK (2025) Burnout Report 2025.

Never Not Creative (2024) Mentally Healthy Survey 2024.

Raichle, M.E. et al. (2001) 'A default mode of brain function', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(2), pp. 676–682.

Sonnentag, S. and Fritz, C. (2007) 'The Recovery Experience Questionnaire', Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(3), pp. 204–221.

Sio, U.N. and Ormerod, T.C. (2009) 'Does incubation enhance problem solving? A meta-analytic review', Psychological Bulletin, 135(1), pp. 94–120.

Bandura, A. (1997) Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Seligman, M.E.P. (2011) Flourish. New York: Free Press.

Loehr, J. and Schwartz, T. (2003) The Power of Full Engagement. New York: Free Press.

NHS (n.d.) Mental health services. Available at: NHS Mental Health Services (Accessed: 12 June 2026).