Feeling like stress has basically become your unwelcome work colleague that never goes home? If you're a corporate woman trying to juggle deadlines, meetings, and life while feeling like you're barely keeping your head above water, this one's for you.
You know how most stress management advice sounds great in theory, but completely falls apart the moment you're back in the real world? "Just breathe deeply" doesn't exactly help when you're in back-to-back meetings, and "take a vacation" isn't realistic when you're managing a team and deadlines.
I'm sharing the practical strategies that actually work when you're dealing with genuine corporate pressure – not the fluffy stuff that ignores what you're really going through. We're talking about simple techniques you can use between meetings, ways to connect authentically with colleagues (without awkward team building), and how to work with your brain instead of against it.
And if you're a woman in your 40s or 50s, we're definitely talking about how perimenopause can make every stressor feel ten times worse – because nobody else seems to mention that little detail.
Ready to stop letting workplace stress run the show and start thriving in your career without sacrificing your sanity? Let's dive into what actually works in the real world.
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Updated August 2025 with latest research on rest and productivity
Read Time - 6 Minutes
Let me ask you something: when was the last time you took a proper break without feeling guilty about it? And I'm not talking about scrolling through your phone while eating lunch at your desk – I mean actually stepping away from work completely.
If you're like most high-achieving women I work with, you probably can't remember. You've been conditioned to believe that taking breaks is lazy, unproductive, or somehow a sign that you're not as dedicated as you should be.
But here's the truth that might surprise you: taking breaks isn't lazy – it's absolutely necessary for your success, your health, and your sanity.
The "Always On" Culture That's Burning Us Out
We live in a culture that glorifies being busy. We wear exhaustion like a badge of honor and compete over who got the least sleep. Somewhere along the way, we started believing that our worth is directly tied to our productivity.
This is especially true for women in corporate environments who feel like they have to work twice as hard to prove themselves. You might think that taking breaks will make you look less committed, less capable, or less deserving of that promotion.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) now recognises burnout as an occupational phenomenon, yet we continue to push ourselves beyond our limits. As researcher Dr. Christina Maslach notes, "Burnout is not a problem of the people themselves but of the social environment in which they work."
But what if I told you that the opposite is actually true? What if taking strategic breaks could actually accelerate your career success?
What the Research Really Shows
Here's something that might shock you, Microsoft found that employees who took regular breaks were significantly more productive than those who worked non-stop. This isn't just feel-good advice – it's hard data backed by neuroscience.
Your brain isn't designed to run at full capacity all day without rest. The prefrontal cortex – the part responsible for decision-making, problem-solving, and creative thinking – becomes fatigued after sustained use, just like any other muscle.
Dr. Matthew Lieberman from UCLA explains: "When we're not actively focused on the outside world and the mind is allowed to wander internally, the default network takes over. This is when we make connections between disparate ideas and have our biggest insights."
But here's what most people don't realise: there's a specific way to take breaks that actually enhances your performance, and most people are doing it completely wrong.
The Hidden Neuroscience of Rest
When you take a proper break, several fascinating things happen in your brain:
Your default mode network activates – this is when your brain processes information, consolidates memories, and makes creative connections. It's literally when your best ideas happen.
Stress hormones like cortisol decrease - chronic elevation of these hormones impairs memory, decision-making, and immune function.
Your attention networks reset, allowing you to return to tasks with renewed focus and clarity.
Research from the University of Illinois found that brief diversions from a task can dramatically improve one's ability to focus on that task for prolonged periods.
The Perimenopause Factor: Why Rest Becomes Even More Critical
If you're a woman in your 40s or 50s, there's another crucial layer to consider. Perimenopause fundamentally changes how your body and brain respond to stress and fatigue.
During this transition, several things happen that make breaks even more essential:
Estrogen decline affects stress resilience – estrogen helps regulate cortisol, so when it drops, you become more sensitive to stress and need more recovery time.
Sleep quality often deteriorates – hot flashes, night sweats, and hormonal fluctuations can disrupt restorative sleep, making daytime rest crucial for cognitive function.
Brain fog becomes common – many women report difficulty concentrating and memory issues during perimenopause. Strategic breaks can help clear mental fatigue.
Energy levels fluctuate unpredictably – what worked in your 30s might leave you completely drained now.
As Dr. Lisa Mosconi, neuroscientist and author of "The Menopause Brain," explains: "The perimenopausal brain is working harder to maintain the same level of cognitive performance. This increased effort requires more energy and more recovery time."
Yet most workplace cultures completely ignore these biological realities, expecting women to maintain the same pace regardless of their life stage.
The Hidden Cost of "Powering Through"
When you skip breaks and push through fatigue, you're not just tired – you're actually:
- Making more mistakes (which take longer to fix later)
- Missing creative solutions that come during rest periods
- Building up chronic stress that affects your sleep, relationships, and health
- Setting yourself up for eventual burnout – which can take months or years to recover from
The Harvard Business Review published research showing that employees who take regular breaks report higher job satisfaction, better work-life balance, and are less likely to leave their positions.
But here's the kicker, if you're in perimenopause, the effects of not taking breaks are amplified. Your stress tolerance is lower, your recovery time is longer, and the physical symptoms can be more intense.
The Permission Problem: Why Smart Women Can't Rest
The real issue isn't that you don't know breaks are important – it's that you can't give yourself permission to take them.
Sound familiar? That voice in your head saying:
- "Everyone else seems to manage without breaks"
- "I don't have time – there's too much to do"
- "People will think I'm not committed"
- "I should be able to handle this"
This guilt around rest is keeping you stuck in a cycle that's actually making you less effective, not more. It's also rooted in some deep cultural and psychological patterns that many high-achieving women carry.
Perfectionism plays a huge role here. Research by Dr. Brené Brown shows that perfectionism is strongly correlated with anxiety, depression, and burnout. When you believe that your worth is tied to your productivity, rest feels like failure.
The Gender Factor, Why This Hits Women Harder
Women face unique challenges when it comes to taking breaks:
The "second shift" phenomenon, even after a full day of work, women typically handle more household and childcare responsibilities, leaving little time for genuine rest.
Imposter syndrome – research shows women are more likely to feel like they need to prove themselves, making breaks feel risky.
Hormonal fluctuations – monthly cycles, pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause all affect energy levels and stress tolerance in ways that aren't acknowledged in most workplaces.
Social conditioning – women are often raised to prioritise others' needs over their own, making self-care feel selfish.
What Strategic Rest Actually Looks Like
There's a specific approach to breaks that high-performers use – it's not just about stepping away from work, it's about strategic rest that actually enhances your performance.
The women I work with learn something crucial: not all breaks are created equal. Scrolling social media doesn't provide the same cognitive reset as a walk in nature. Checking emails during lunch doesn't give your stress response system time to recover.
Real rest involves:
- Complete disconnection from work stimuli
- Activities that engage different parts of your brain
- Movement that helps process stress hormones
- Genuine connection with others or nature
- Mindful awareness of the present moment
The Ripple Effect of Strategic Rest
When you start taking proper breaks, something interesting happens. You don't just feel better – your entire approach to work changes:
- Decision-making improves because your prefrontal cortex is well-rested
- Creativity increases because your default mode network has time to make connections
- Stress resilience builds because your nervous system gets regular recovery time
- Relationships improve because you're not constantly operating from a place of depletion
But perhaps most importantly, you start modeling healthy behavior for others around you – your team, your family, your friends.
The Leadership Opportunity
If you're in a management position, you have a unique opportunity to change workplace culture around rest. Research consistently shows that teams with leaders who model healthy boundaries and rest practices have:
- Higher productivity and creativity
- Lower turnover rates
- Better employee satisfaction
- Reduced sick leave and burnout
As leadership expert Arianna Huffington says: "We need to move from a culture where burnout is a badge of honour to one where well-being is a sign of strength."
Your Next Step: Breaking the Cycle
If you're tired of feeling guilty about rest, or if you're stuck in the "always on" cycle and don't know how to break free, you don't have to figure this out alone.
The strategies I use with clients address both the practical side (how to take effective breaks) and the psychological side (why you feel guilty about rest in the first place). We work on rewiring the subconscious patterns that make rest feel "wrong" or "lazy."
This is especially important if you're navigating perimenopause, where your body's needs are changing but your mindset about productivity might still be stuck in your 30s.
The goal isn't just to take more breaks – it's to fundamentally shift your relationship with rest so that it becomes a strategic tool for success rather than something you feel guilty about.
Ready to learn how to rest without guilt and actually boost your productivity? As a clinical hypnotherapist and Transformational Menopause Coach specialising in helping high-achieving women overcome burnout and perfectionism, I help you create sustainable success strategies that honour both your ambitions and your changing needs.
Follow Me for honest insights on perimenopause, burnout recovery, stress management and weight loss and how to keep thriving when life throws you curveballs.
You know that team member who stays late every night, redoes work that's already perfect, and seems physically unable to hit "send" until everything is absolutely flawless? They're probably your star performer – and they're also probably burning out faster than anyone else on your team.
Here's the thing about perfectionists: they look like they have it all together on the outside, but underneath that polished exterior, they're often running on empty. They've created impossible standards for themselves and are stuck in this exhausting cycle of overwork, self-criticism, and never feeling like anything they do is good enough.
And if you're managing women in their 40s and 50s who are perfectionists? Well, add hormonal changes into the mix, and you've got a recipe for burnout that can hit like a freight train.
But here's what most people don't realise: perfectionism isn't something you're born with. It's learned behaviour, usually picked up in childhood. Which means it can be unlearned – but most perfectionists have never questioned whether these patterns are actually helping or hurting them.
Ready to understand why your highest performers might be your biggest burnout risks, and discover practical ways to support them without enabling the destructive patterns? Here's what you need to know.
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When it comes to burnout, we often think of it as something that just happens to us. We can’t control how much stress is in our lives or how hard we’re working, so why should we be responsible for our own burnout? I call BS on this! The truth is, there is something you can do to prevent burnout: firstly, you can build and maintain your resilience levels. Think of it like a bank account; the more money (resilience) you put in, the less likely you are to overdraw (burnout).
What Exactly Are Resilience Levels?
Resilience levels refer to the ability of individuals and organisations to cope with change and adapt when necessary. It involves developing strategies for dealing with stress, managing time and energy, establishing healthy boundaries between work and life, and learning from mistakes.
There are several ways that managers can help their employees build resilience levels. First, they can provide clear expectations on what needs to be done and when it needs to be done. This allows employees to plan ahead and anticipate any potential issues that might arise. Second, managers need to provide regular feedback on performance so that employees can adjust their goals and expectations as needed. Finally, managers are responsible for encouraging employees to take breaks throughout the day so they have time for self-care activities such as exercising, breathing or meditating.
How Do Resilience Levels Affect Burnout?
Burnout is caused by prolonged periods of high stress without adequate recovery time or resources. As a result, individuals begin to experience physical and emotional exhaustion, which leads to feelings of detachment from their job or workplace and flows over into their personal lives. By building up resilience levels before burnout occurs, individuals will be better able to handle stressful situations without becoming overwhelmed or disengaged from their work. Having stronger resilience levels will also help individuals bounce back after experiencing difficult situations at work or in life more quickly than they would if they had no reserves of resilience left in the “bank”.
Taking control of your own burnout is not only possible but essential for your well-being. By prioritising the development and maintenance of your resilience levels, you can effectively combat the negative effects of prolonged stress. Remember, resilience is the equivalent of your bank account it requires regular deposits to prevent burnout from overdrawing your resources. So, what steps will you take today to invest in your resilience? How can you incorporate strategies for stress management, time and energy allocation, and work-life balance into your daily routine? Embrace the power within you to prevent burnout and thrive in both your professional and personal life.
If you feel like you need extra support in making these changes, don't hesitate to reach out. Book in a time to chat with Hana or follow her on: Facebook Instagram or LinkedIn
As a manager, it's likely that you're accustomed to carrying the weight of every situation. When it comes to dealing with burnout, you might assume that being in a leadership role, the burden falls solely on you. However, this perspective is not entirely accurate. Each person has control over their own actions, and they are the one's who can best decide what steps to take for their well-being. This means your responsibility extends primarily to what happens within your work environment and your duty of care to your team member. Here are three strategies to help your team member manage their burnout recovery.
Tip 1: Be Honest with Yourself
It can be tough to admit that we need help—that we’re not invincible and that taking on too much can take its toll. But the truth is, nobody is immune from burnout. If you feel like you’re starting to reach a breaking point, then it’s time to be honest with yourself and start thinking about ways in which you can manage your stress levels before they become explosive.
Tip 2: Talk to Your Teammates
Sometimes it helps just to talk things through with someone else. Having an open dialogue with your team is essential for managing stress levels and keeping morale up. Not only will this give everyone on the team an opportunity to understand your frustrations, but it also provides an opportunity for the whole team to come together and brainstorm solutions. This could involve delegating tasks more evenly or making sure everyone has enough support when they need it most. It could also means that when there’s a tight deadline, everyone pitches in, instead of letting one team member carry the load.
Tip 3: Take Time Out of Your Day
Burnout prevention isn't a one-size-fits-all approach—we all have different needs when it comes to managing our workloads and stress levels. One thing that everyone should do though is take regular breaks throughout the day; even if it's just 10 minutes away from your desk or laptop screen, this can make all the difference in helping you stay focused and productive without burning out in the process. Taking regular breaks gives your mind a chance to rest and recharge so that you're ready for whatever challenges come your way. And did you know that productivity increases when we take bite-size breaks, so you're not losing out by doing this.
Recovering from burnout isn't something that happens overnight—it takes time, effort, and dedication on your part as a manager or employee if you want it to stick long-term. If you half a#s it, you can expect to be back at burnout island in the not-so-distant future, trust me I visit here more times than I'd like to admit until I learnt how to do life differently.
Remember that nobody else is responsible for your burnout recovery; only you have the power within yourself to make changes that will help reduce stress levels while still getting work done efficiently and effectively.
Organisations are responsible from a health and well-being perspective and may like to contribute to your recovery by way of time off, or contributing to the funding of therapy, counselling or other forms of rehab. However, the work to recover is yours, and yours alone.
With these three tips in mind, now you know who's responsible for your burnout recovery—don't let yourself down!
If you feel like you need extra support in making these changes, don't hesitate to reach out. Book a time to chat with Hana or follow her on: Facebook Instagram or LinkedIn
