The Art of Slowing Down This Season

It’s that time of year again. The inbox is overflowing with year-end deliverables, Q4 goals are looming, holiday parties are filling up the calendar, and someone just asked if you’re making homemade gifts for the teachers this year. Oh, and your performance review is coming up. And the kids need costumes for the winter concert. And don’t forget about those New Year goals you’re already thinking about.

The corporate working mom playbook tells us to power through. To finish strong. To lean in harder right up until December 31st, and then hit the ground running on January 1st with our fresh goals and renewed energy (that we somehow manufactured out of thin air). Well that just doesn’t feel right does it?

But what if the secret to actually starting the new year strong, ready to tackle those big goals and priorities, is to do the exact opposite? What if we need to slow down during the holidays to speed up in the new year?

What Does “Slowing Down to Speed Up” Actually Mean?

Let’s define this contradictory concept. “Slowing down to speed up” is the practice of working at a steadier, more intentional pace rather than operating at maximum speed constantly. It means taking deliberate pauses to rest, recover, and reconnect with what truly matters before accelerating toward your next big goals.

This isn’t about being lazy or checking out. It’s about being strategic with your energy. Research shows that this approach actually works. A Harvard Business Review study of 343 companies found that businesses that paused at key moments to ensure they were making strategic decisions had higher sales and operating profits than companies that just kept pushing forward without reflection.

The same principle applies to us as individuals. Rest isn’t the opposite of productivity, it’s the foundation of it.

Why Working Moms Need to Embrace Rest This Season

I know what you’re thinking. Rest? Now? During the busiest season of the year when there’s literally no time for anything? That sounds impossible.

But here’s the truth: we’re already running on empty. The statistics show it. Research shows that 78% of working mothers report feeling stressed about juggling work and family life. Another study found that mothers perform 73% of all cognitive household labor, the mental load of planning, organizing, and managing family responsibilities, even when physical tasks are shared.

When we refuse to slow down and rest during the holidays, we’re not finishing strong. We’re limping across the finish line, depleted and drained, expected to somehow bounce back with energy and enthusiasm for new goals in January.

That’s not how human beings work. That’s not how sustainable success works.

What Slowing Down for Rest and Presence Actually Looks Like

Slowing down this season isn’t about abandoning your responsibilities or letting people down. It’s about being intentional about conserving and restoring your energy so you can start the new year from a place of strength, not exhaustion.

Here’s what that can look like during this season:

Permission to do “good enough.” Not everything needs to be perfect or Instagram-worthy. The store-bought cookies are fine. The simple decorations are enough. Your kids will remember your presence, not the production value of the holidays.

Protecting rest like it’s a meeting. Block time on your calendar for actual rest, not errands disguised as downtime. A Sunday afternoon nap. A quiet morning with coffee and a book. An evening where you’re truly off the clock. These aren’t luxuries; they’re necessities.

Being present over being productive. Choose a few holiday moments that truly matter to you, decorating the tree, a special tradition, a quiet evening with your family, and be fully there. Put the phone down. Let the to-do list wait. This is the slowness that fills you up instead of depleting you.

Saying no to protect your energy. Every yes to something draining is a no to your recovery and presence. Give yourself permission to decline the obligations that don’t serve you or your family. Your energy is not unlimited, and the holiday season is not the time to prove otherwise.

Taking real time off. If you have PTO available, use it. And when you use it, actually disconnect. The emails will be there when you get back. Your body and mind need a true break to recover from this year and prepare for the next.

The New Year Payoff: Starting from Strength

When you prioritize rest, recovery, and presence during the holidays, something remarkable happens. You enter the new year actually ready for it.

You’re not starting January already exhausted, resentful, and burned out. You’re not making goals from a place of depletion, trying to willpower your way through another year of unsustainable hustle.

Instead, you’re starting from a place of clarity. You’ve had time to reflect on what matters. You’ve reconnected with yourself and your family. You’ve restored your energy reserves. You’re ready to pursue your goals with intention and stamina, not desperation and fumes.

Consider this: lost productivity costs U.S. businesses $1.8 trillion annually. Much of this comes from people being busy but not effective, burned out, making errors, unable to focus.

Starting the year depleted doesn’t make you more productive. It makes you less effective, less creative, less resilient, and more prone to burnout. Rest isn’t a reward for finishing your goals, it’s the fuel that makes achieving them possible.

The Working Mom Advantage

Here’s something I’ve learned: working moms are uniquely positioned to model what healthy ambition looks like. When we show our children that rest matters, that presence matters, that you don’t have to earn worthiness through constant productivity, we’re teaching them how to build sustainable, meaningful lives.

When we protect rest during the holidays, we’re not falling behind. We’re setting ourselves up to go further in the new year than we ever could have running on empty.

How I’m Slowing Down This Season

This weekend, I sat down and mapped out everything coming up for the next two months, work commitments, personal obligations, family events, social plans, all of it. But I didn’t just make a list. I got really specific and clear about how I want to show up for these moments and who I want to be this holiday season.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

My boys have birthdays coming up. I have a work trip to Chicago, and my husband is joining me afterward so we can enjoy the city together. It’s December. There are parties and celebrations and all the holiday magic. And you know what? I had a goal to lose weight by the end of the year.

But when I looked at my calendar and thought about what truly matters, I made a decision: I’m not going to obsess over losing weight right now. I’m not going to prioritize my time around the scale during this season.

My husband and I are foodies. We love exploring new restaurants and trying amazing food together. That’s part of what makes us, us. My boys’ birthdays deserve my full presence and joy, not a mom who’s stressed about what she’s eating. Christmas should feel abundant and celebratory, not restrictive.

So I’m giving myself permission. I’m going to continue making generally good choices, but I’m going to fully enjoy my team dinner in Chicago. I’m going to savor every bite of deep dish pizza with my husband. I’m going to celebrate my boys’ birthdays and Christmas without guilt. And then, on January 1st, I can jump back into the healthy habits I’ve been working to establish, from a place of rest and fullness, not depletion and resentment.

I’m also protecting my energy by taking strategic time off. I’m taking the Friday before our big family birthday weekend off to actually prepare for it without the stress of trying to squeeze it into an already-full workday. And I’m taking time off around the holidays so I can truly be present instead of half-working, half-celebrating, and doing neither well.

What I’m saying no to: Over-committing. That’s the big one. There are fun holiday activities I want to do with my kids, but only if they want to do them, not because I feel like we have to check off every festive experience. Social obligations? If I genuinely want to get together with friends or family, we will. But if there are other things we want to do as a family, I’m not going to feel guilty saying no to invitations. No more showing up to parties out of obligation when what we really need is a quiet night at home.

I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. There were a couple of seasons in a row where I pushed through without slowing down, and I got the flu. Every. Single. Time. I was so stressed during the entire season that I wasn’t even enjoying my kids’ birthdays or the holidays. I’d overcommit, get burnt out, and end up sick and miserable right when I most wanted to be present.

Not this year. This year, presence means not over-committing. It means truly being in the moment and fully enjoying these experiences with the people I love most.

What I’m looking forward to in the new year: Once I’m rested and restored, I have some goals I’m genuinely excited about. I want to get back on track with my health and wellness. I’ll approach it from a place of energy and intention, not exhaustion and desperation.

I also want to look at my blog and thought leadership. Can I post every two weeks instead of weekly so the content is deeper and more meaningful? Or maybe once a month with really specific, valuable insights? I want to explore what it looks like to share more intentionally rather than just constantly.

And then there are the personal goals that light me up: learning Italian at some point next year. Expanding my bread-making skills to include homemade pizza dough and cinnamon rolls. These are the kinds of goals that feel joyful when you approach them with energy, not like another item on an endless to-do list when you’re already depleted.

That’s what slowing down now gives me: the chance to start the new year actually excited about my goals instead of already exhausted by them.

Your Invitation for This Season

As we move through the final weeks of the year, I want to invite you to try something radical: prioritize rest, recovery, and presence over productivity.

What would it look like to truly slow down this holiday season? Not to abandon your responsibilities, but to approach them from a place of intention rather than obligation. To protect space for rest. To be present for the moments that matter. To enter the new year restored rather than depleted.

Your big goals and priorities will still be there in January. But you’ll be in a much better position to achieve them if you give yourself permission to slow down now.

Because the truth is, sustainable success isn’t built on constant hustle. It’s built on cycles of effort and recovery. And this season? This is your recovery time.

With love,

Erin

References

1. Harris Poll commissioned by CVS Health. (2023). Working mothers’ mental health survey. Retrieved from Fortune.com.
2. Daminger, A., et al. (2024). Cognitive household labor: Gender disparities and consequences for maternal mental health and wellbeing. *Archives of Women’s Mental Health*.
3. Harvard Business Review. Study of 343 businesses on strategic pause and business outcomes.
4. Bright Horizons. (2024). UK Modern Families Index. Retrieved from HR Magazine.
5. HubSpot Research. Lost productivity costs in U.S. businesses.
6. Gitnux. (2024). Working mothers statistics compilation.