Mental rest for entrepreneurs and why overusing our minds without recovery leads to foggy thinking, irritability, and indecision, why capacity is resource dependent rather than fixed, and practical ways to build mental rest into a business day, including margin between calls, a brain dump practice, and the A.D.M.A.R. method.
Why You’re Tired Even When Nothing Looks That Demanding
You know that tired that doesn’t quite make sense? Nothing on your calendar looks all that demanding today. No crisis, no huge deadline. And yet you’re feeling foggy, unfocused, maybe a little short with people, and you can’t fully explain why.
That’s usually not a sign you need to push harder. It’s usually a sign your brain needs a break.
We’re Overleveraging Our Minds and Not Noticing
As entrepreneurs, we’re knowledge workers. Coaching, troubleshooting, writing, deciding, creating, all day long, we’re leaning on our minds constantly, and most of us never stop to account for how much that actually costs.
I taught myself to be a workaholic long before I started my business. That habit didn’t disappear when I went out on my own. It just followed me in and I ended up creating myself another job, one where I was working long days, six days a week, without realizing I was running on empty.
What changed things wasn’t willpower. It was finally understanding that rest isn’t a someday/maybe. It’s a necessity, and it belongs on the schedule, not in the leftover time.
The Signs You’re Mentally Maxed Out
A lot of us are what I call chronically capable. We’re nurturers, caregivers, often people pleasers. We’re taking care of clients, taking care of the business, taking care of our homes, our families, our pets, everything. And somewhere in all of that, we forget to give our own brains a break.
When that mental tank runs low, it doesn’t always look like exhaustion. It can show up as:
- Indecision or second-guessing yourself
- Irritability that seems to come out of nowhere
- Spinning in circles without making progress
- Staring at your laptop and realizing time has just… gone
That fog isn’t a character flaw. It’s your brain telling you it’s out of energy.
Capacity Isn’t Fixed, It’s Resource Dependent
Here’s something I’m still learning myself, when you feel like you’ve hit your limit, that’s usually not a true limit. It’s more often a sign of misalignment, how you’re investing your time and energy, and a lack of recovery time.
Deep work requires deep rest (A quote I read from author and therapist, Aundi Kolber). If you’re doing the deep work of serving clients, running a business, caring for people you love, and you’re not building in recovery, the exhaustion isn’t a mystery. It’s the math working exactly the way it’s supposed to.
Simple Ways to Build in Mental Rest
None of this requires a week off. Small, consistent things make the difference:
- Leave margin between calls. Zoom fatigue is real. I’ve started scheduling a half hour break after long video calls. I block out time on my calendar with a calendar note that just says: no YouTube, no computer, walk away from the desk.
- Change your scenery. Step away from the desk. For me, that’s often taking my dog Mochi outside to sniff around the yard and feel the breeze for a few minutes.
- Keep a capture system. An index card, a page in your planner, a note on your phone, somewhere to get ideas out of your head so you’re not carrying them all day.
- Try a brain dump. Stop trying to remember everything. Sit down for a few minutes and let it all out onto paper.
- Start with an A.D.M.A.R. This is something I use to open coaching calls and our mastermind sessions. It’s a short examen-style practice and stands for alive, draining, moments, aware, release. It takes as little as five minutes, and I can watch women’s shoulders come down from around their ears as they do it.
- Build a gratitude practice. It changes how you see your day, once you start actually looking for what you’re grateful for.
You’re Not Alone, and It’s Fixable
If you recognize yourself in any of this, you’re not alone, and it’s not something broken beyond repair. It’s a pattern you can learn your way out of, one small shift at a time.
Not sure if mental rest is exactly your gap, or if it’s a different type of rest you’re missing?
Take the free rest quiz at ItStartsWithRest.com/quiz.
It only takes a minute or two, and you’ll get a personalized
report on the type of rest you actually need.
Rest Series: Rest for the Chronically Capable Entrepreneur
- Episode 109: Rest Isn’t a Luxury, It’s a Business Strategy (the 5 types you’re missing)
- Episode 110: You’re not lazy, you’re mentally maxed out
- Episode 111: Why You Need Emotional Rest (and What It Feels Like When You Don’t Get It)
- Episode 112: You Are the Asset and Physical Rest is How You Protect it
- Episode 113: Spiritual Rest: You Can Do Everything Right and Still Feel Disconnected
- Episode 114: Selah Sessions: Permission to Rest for the Chronically Capable Entrepreneur
Marta Goertzen is a Gentle Business Coach and founder of Selah Studios, host of the Doing Business Gently podcast. She helps Christian women entrepreneurs over 50 rediscover who they’ve become, realign their business to match, and fall in love with their work again, gently, at their pace, without starting over. As an avid photographer and lover of the outdoors, she daily explores the trails and beaches of the South Central Oregon Coast with her dog Mochi in tow. Take the free Business Alignment Audit as your gentle first step, a way to pause, get honest, and see clearly where you and your business are right now: https://SelahStudios.co/alignmentaudit