With the recent heatwave, it already feels like summer is hitting different this year.
This was Bristol last week.
When it heats up in the UK it has a particular weight to it.
I enjoy the heat - the sweatiness (especially being perimenopausal), no so much.
I do find that in the summer, there is peculiar sense of the emotional heaviness of long days, slow afternoons, and the inexplicable feeling that you should be doing something, although you're so sticky with sweat, and tired from the heat, you don't want to move much… even when you don’t know what that something is.
It’s that familiar paradox:
So much to do.
Nothing to do.
A noisy brain.
A tired body.
A business that needs tending.
A self that needs rest.
Somewhere in the middle of all that contradiction, you’re meant to make good decisions.
The Heavy Heat + The Noisy Brain
Summer brings a different kind of pressure.
The world feels slower, softer, stretched out, but your brain doesn’t always get the memo. Mine certainly doesn’t.
Some days I feel like I’m melting into the season, and other days I’m pacing around thinking: Shouldn’t I be doing more?
Why am I tired when I haven’t done enough?
Why does rest feel like guilt instead of nourishment?
The Guilt of Doing Nothing (Even When “Nothing” Is What You Need)
It’s the classic slow‑business dilemma:
You built a life with more freedom… but you still carry the old productivity ghosts.
There’s a particular guilt that comes with rest when you run your own business. That specter of how we've been conditioned to view 'having a job' and being 'at work', looms large.
No boss to answer to, but also no boss to reassure you that it’s okay to stop.
We need reminding that rest isn’t the opposite of progress, it's part of it.
Rest is the soil progress grows in.
But guilt is loud and summer heat makes everything louder.
Rest as a Decision
This is where radical rest comes in. I don't mean the spa‑day, bubble‑bath version, but the grounded, intentional kind: Rest as a decision.
Rest as resistance.
Rest as a strategy.
Rest as a way to keep going.
The Midyear Mirror
Summer is also the midpoint of the year. A natural pause. A moment to look back and look forward. And if you’re anything like me, that midpoint reflection can feel like a mixed bag:
Have I done enough?
Why does progress feel slow?
Why does my brain insist on sprinting when my body wants to lie under a tree?
That's the point to remind myself that progress isn’t always visible.
Sometimes it’s internal.
Quieting the inner critic - I call mine the Confidence Crushing Crow - and he's really mean to me...
Sometimes it’s seasonal.
I look to my allotment to ground me. To keep me connected to the seasons.
Their ebb and flow is visceral there.
I can physically experience the rush and urgency of Spring.
The bedding in, settling down and watching things bloom in Summer. My job then is to keep things watered, pull weeds, gently tending to my crops to give them the strength they need to flourish.
This is the season my business is in right now, too.
Autumn is the clearing away, the preparing for wintering. Bringing in the harvest and frantically processing the abundance to store and nourish.
Sometimes it’s simply getting through the heat.
Staying hydrated. Topping up the sun lotion. Sitting in the shade with a book, sketchbook, or journal, because anything else seems too difficult.
I love a plain paper notebook, like this A5 book with a seasonally appropriate rose motif. With plain paper, I can write, doodle, mind map, process flow, sketch. Journaling becomes kore than words on a page, it's a whole journey between the pages.
Small Acts of Rest That Still Feel Like Progress
This is the sweet spot. It's the place where rest and momentum meet.
Tiny, nourishing actions that quiet the guilt and soothe the nervous system while still giving your business a gentle nudge.
Here are a few small acts of progress that double as small acts of rest:
- A 10‑minute tidy. Not a big clear out, just clearing one surface. Clearing your desk and wiping it down is surprisingly satisfying.
- A slow walk. No earbuds, no phone, no purpose, just letting your thoughts settle and taking in the world around you. I never get tired of simply strolling around Bristol Harbour. The atmosphere is always lovely over there, especially on a sunny day.
- A single email One reply, one connection, one tiny step. You can do this from your phone, in the garden.
- A sun‑soaked notebook session Jot ideas without pressure to act on them. Journaling can be an act of rest and productivity all at once.
- A micro‑admin moment Update one product listing, schedule one post, tweak one sentence. Make one Instagram Reel and post it there and then, from your shaded corner.
None of these small actions are 'productivity hacks', they are permission to stop. Without guilt. To sun-bed in, settle and watch things bloom.
Radical Rest as a Business Strategy
Radical rest is a business strategy. You are the greatest asset, and biggest risk to your business. You need to look after that fundamental component of your little money machine.
Radical rest is about:
Choosing to pause before you burn out.
Choosing to listen to your body before your brain spirals.
Choosing to trust that slow seasons have purpose.
Because the allotment lesson I've learned, as the seasons ebb and flow, is that Summer is designed for slowness.
Nature slows down.
Animals slow down.
People used to slow down. We’re the only species trying to run at full speed in 28‑degree heat.
A Simple First Step (Because Sometimes That’s All You Need)
If you’re feeling stuck between 'everything to do' and 'nothing to do,' here’s your first step:
- Choose one thing that feels gentle.
- Choose one thing that feels nourishing.
- Choose one thing that feels doable.
Then stop. Let that be enough for today. One thing at a time. One thing a day. That's enough. You're still making steps forward, even if they are slow, it's still the right direction. One step at a time gets you there.
You’re not behind.
You’re living with the seasons.
Living with the seasons is part of Hen's Tooth's philosophy - by extension, my philosophy. It's why I'm here doing this thing, running this business.
The Confidence Crushing Crow can pipe down. I'm here for the summer vibes.