How To Rest Strategically On The National Day Of Rest For Black Women

In my work as a brand strategist and executive coach, I have witnessed how overwork has become the default setting for many high-achieving Black women.

Many of these women have been conditioned to equate their worth with their work, and have internalized messages that say they must be twice as good as everyone else, they must push through exhaustion, and that rest is a reward only earned after they have given everything to everyone else.

In The Rest Revolution: How to Reclaim Your Rhythm and Conquer Burnout When Overworking Has Become the Norm, I explore how burnout is often not just the result of working hard. It is also the product of a series of misalignments.

When we operate in ways that contradict our natural inclinations, we create energy leaks that deplete us over time. Many of us are overworking on autopilot, driven by five deeply ingrained beliefs:

1. I have to be perfect to be worthy.
2. I overachieve, therefore I am. (Working twice as hard is the only way to prove myself.)
3. I must push through my physical or emotional pain.
4. My worth is tied to my labor and productivity.
5. I didn’t truly earn my success. (Imposter syndrome whispers that I must keep proving myself.)

These beliefs are rooted in what I call the machine mindset: the collection of social norms that encourage us to function like productivity machines rather than human beings with natural rhythms. If we are to break free, we must recalibrate both how we work and how we live.

To have a chance to create a life beyond burnout, we must address the key misalignments that lead to exhaustion and depletion. March 10 is the National Day of Rest for Black Women. As you rest today, take a moment to reflect on these questions so you can begin crafting a plan for a more aligned and rested future:

1. Realignment 1 – Yourself

Many of us have spent so much time achieving that we have lost touch with who we truly are. The first step to breaking free is becoming a student of yourself by getting curious about your values, passions, and beliefs.

Ask yourself:

• Does my life reflect what truly matters to me?
• Where am I backburnering myself and my joy in my own life — i.e. where have I put my hobbies, passions, and interests on the backburner?
• What is one hobby, passion, or interest I can make intentional time for this quarter?

2. Realignment 2 – Your Time

Our schedules are often dictated by obligations rather than intention. Instead of blindly accepting how your time is spent, interrogate your commitments.

• Where are you giving your energy away unnecessarily? Where can you make more time for what fuels you?
• Where can you make room for your passions, your community, and your well-being? Where can you get some of your time back for you?
• What commitments can you deprioritize in this season to create more room for joy, wholeness, and self-care?

3. Realignment 3 – Your Ambition

Are you chasing goals that no longer align with who you are today? Many of us operate from an outdated playbook—pursuing achievements that once mattered but no longer fit our current season of life. It’s time to update your vision.

Ask yourself:

• Am I chasing my version of success or someone else’s?
• Am I regularly engaging in work that energizes me? If not, how can I shift my role, position, or services to better align with my strengths and energy?

4. Realignment 4 – Your Nervous System

A key component of rest is making space to slow down, reflect, and listen to yourself. High achievers often avoid stillness because they fear what they might find in the quiet. But your clarity and solutions are waiting for you in the stillness.

Ask yourself:

• What is one stillness practice I can realistically make room for every day for at least 10 minutes?
• If I have more time, what is my ideal stillness practice?
• How can I carve out space to take advantage of that stillness once per week? How can I fit it into my current flow?

5. Realignment 5 – Relationships and Connection

Burnout often happens when we focus only on what produces money or accolades while back-burnering the relationships that sustain us. But community is healing. Your restoration depends on being surrounded by people who pour into you rather than drain you.

Ask yourself:

• Where in my life am I not asking for the help I need?
• Who can help me by taking things off my plate at work and at home?
• Who can I be more supportive to?
• Who can I re-engage this week to reconnect and rebuild my community?

Today, on the National Day of Rest for Black Women, I invite you to pause, breathe, and embrace stillness. Rest is necessary, but it is not enough to simply rest for one day and return to exhaustion tomorrow. True restoration requires strategy.

If we want to create a life where rest isn’t a rare indulgence but a daily practice, we must address the misalignments that keep us depleted, and make an intentional plan to realign. So today, enjoy your rest. But also commit to a strategy that makes rest your norm, rather than your exception.