Permission to Pause: Can We Stop Doing and Just Be for a Minute?

This episode is for the ambitious woman who’s doing it all—and still feels like it’s never enough.

If you’re listening while multitasking—folding laundry, answering emails, or in between Zoom calls—this one’s for you. Dr. KimberlyDeSimone invites you to press pause on the pressure and unpack why we’ve lost the ability to truly rest. With research, real talk, and radical empathy, this episode explores:

• The blurred boundaries of remote work and why they’re burning us out
• The myth of “productive breaks” and the science behind contaminated leisure
• The invisible labor women carry—and why it’s so exhausting
• How rest can be resistance, recovery, and a reclaiming of your humanity
• A gentle, 3-step invitation to begin unlearning productivity as self-worth

If you’ve ever felt guilty for resting, this episode offers both validation and a vision for a more sustainable model of success.

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Contaminated Leisure is real — downtime that isn’t really down leads to depletion, not restoration.
• Emotional labor—managing feelings, smoothing tension, anticipating needs—is invisible work that disproportionately falls on women and contributes to burnout.
• Rest as Resistance reframes rest as a radical act in a culture that equates productivity with worth.
• Guilt isn’t a sign you’re lazy — it’s often a signal you’re doing something different, not something wrong.
• Micro-moments of rest matter — true rest doesn’t require a retreat, just your presence.

Research Referenced:

• LeanIn.org x McKinsey Report on women and the pandemic’s impact on unpaid labor
• Sociology Compass and American Psychological Association studies on gender and contaminated leisure
• Arlie Hochschild’s work on emotional labor
• Journal of Emotion study linking emotional labor to burnout
• Stephen Covey’s "sharpen the saw" philosophy
• Dr. Brené Brown’s “never enough” script and shame research✨

Manifestatement: "We are human beings, not human doings. We deserve rest—not because we’ve earned it, but because we are human."~ Dr. Kimberly DeSimone

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