The 7th day NOPE

Take one full day completely off every week. Not "light work." Off.

Does this sound like a Sabbeth? Yes, but as an atheist I call it my 7th-day "NOPE".

No emails. No Slack. No "just checking" your phone. No thinking about client problems while pretending to relax. Properly, actually, structurally off.

I can already hear the objections forming. "I can't afford to." "My clients need me." "I'll fall behind." "What if something urgent comes up?"

Here's the truth: you can't afford not to. And nothing is actually that urgent. Unless you work in a Nuclear Power plant, and as you're hearing I'm betting...probably not. 

Rest is strategy, not luxury (annoying but true)

You think you're being productive by working seven days a week. You're not. You're getting diminishing returns after about day five. By day seven you're basically just moving tasks around while your brain runs on fumes and spite.

Real rest does three things your all-hours hustle can't manage:

It restores decision-making capacity. Every choice you make depletes your mental energy. By Sunday, or whatever your day off is, you need to refill that tank. Otherwise you're making terrible calls about clients, pricing, and priorities while operating on the mental equivalent of 2% battery.

It creates space for actual thinking. Your best ideas don't come when you're staring at your laptop with seventeen tabs open. They come in the shower, on a walk with your dog (or even other humans), while you're reading something completely unrelated. You need white space for your brain to make connections. It can't do that when it's permanently busy.

It prevents burnout before it happens. Burnout isn't something that shows up one dramatic day. It accumulates slowly, like water damage. Taking one day off per week is preventative maintenance. Miss it for months on end and you'll be forced to take weeks off later. Except you'll be crying and useless, which is less fun.

How to structure it (because structure matters)

Pick a day. Doesn't matter which one, but it needs to be the same day every week so your nervous system can count on it. Consistency is what makes this work.

Tell your clients. Put it in your email signature: "I don't work Sundays. Or Tuesdays. Whatever your one-true-Idontwanttotalktoyou-day" Add it to your Out-Of-Office. Mention it when you onboard someone new. Most clients will respect it. The ones who don't aren't your people. Handle accordingly.

Plan something worth protecting. If your day off is just "maybe I'll rest," you'll end up working. Book something. Meet a friend. Go somewhere. Make it harder to accidentally open your laptop out of habit.

Turn off notifications. Properly off. Not on silent. Off. If you're worried about emergencies, tell one person how to reach you by text for true emergencies only. Spoiler: there won't be any. There never are.

What to tell clients (this bit is easier than you think)

"I don't work weekends. If something comes up, I'll see it Monday morning and get back to you then." Then DON'T ACTUALLY WORK. True, you're probably going to look at email one of those days (because that's the reality) but make sure one of those days you don't. Ever. 

That's it. You don't need to apologise or explain or justify. You're not being difficult. You're being sustainable, which benefits them too because you won't suddenly disappear for three months with stress-related burnout.

The clients who push back on this are telling you something important: they don't respect boundaries. That's useful information. Act on it.

The creativity rebound 

Here's what happens after a few weeks of actual days off: you start having ideas again.

Solutions to problems you've been stuck on. New ways to structure your services. Clarity about which clients to keep. Energy for projects you've been putting off. Enthusiasm, even. Remember that?

None of this happens when you're grinding seven days a week. Your brain needs rest to process, integrate, and create. You think you're being productive by never stopping. You're actually just churning and getting nowhere slowly.

Your move

Pick your day right now. Tell your clients this week. Put it in your calendar as a non-negotiable. The first few weeks will feel uncomfortable. Your nervous system is used to being available all the time. Push through it.

By week four, you'll wonder how you ever worked without it. By week eight, you'll be evangelical about it. I'd say you'd bore your friends, but if you're not inside Yes Club, you probably only have a handful of people that would understand that taking days off isn't something we self starters are good at. 

Taking one full day off every week isn't slacking. It's the most profitable thing you'll do. Also the most enjoyable, which counts for something.