Permission to Pause
Self Care for all?
Why for so many of us does taking rest seem like a difficult decision? Even the UK’s leader Andy Burnham found himself in the crosshairs of the media for taking time to be with his family.
This pressure to appear invincible leaves many of us feeling a persistent guilt about stepping away, especially when half the team is already away and work on site continues unabated. In our sector, the physical reality of construction,where concrete doesn't take annual leave,often serves as justification for never quite switching off.
While summer is technically a season associated with rest, for many in the built environment, it becomes a season of covering. We can find ourselves doing the work of three colleagues while pretending the programme hasn't moved, turning the period that should offer slack into a stressful time
So we're opening this conversation with an invitation rather than advice.
Is summer a false friend?
The longer, hotter days bring a quiet pressure to be seen "enjoying it properly," yet deadlines don't disappear; they simply cluster in September. We have inherited a culture that values visible endurance,the early starts, the late evenings, and the pride in never fully disconnecting. It’s a legacy that has been absorbed into our professional DNA, even if it was never written down as policy.
Rest isn't a reward
To break this cycle, we need to reframe: rest isn’t a reward for finishing the work; it is the maintenance required to do the work. We understand this instinctively when it comes to the buildings we create.
You don't delay planned maintenance on a structure indefinitely and wait for visible cracks to appear before acting. You schedule it, you budget for it, and you recognise it as the necessary cost of keeping something standing. People are no different, yet we often find it much easier to make the business case for the building than for ourselves.
Not everyone's summer looks the same
However, as we advocate for this reframe, we must acknowledge that rest is unevenly distributed. Annual leave is a privilege of specific contracts. For sole traders, freelancers, or those between roles, August can be a period of financial anxiety or deafening silence in the inbox.
For site teams, carers, and parents navigating the school holidays, summer often adds to the load rather than lifting it. If that is your reality, the invitation to pause still stands, even if it looks different. Rest doesn’t always require a flight; sometimes, it’s about modeling a different kind of permission for yourself and those you lead.
Leaders, in particular, should remember: what you model becomes what your team believes is permitted. The email sent at 10pm from a sun lounger is a policy document, whether you intended it to be or not. By taking micro-permissions, you signal that it is safe for others to do the same.
Micro permissions
Here are a few small ways to reclaim your time. None of these require sign-off, but all of them defend your capacity to work well:
A lunch break away from the screen, any screen actual, not theoretical.
One afternoon a week held clear in the diary and defended like a client meeting.
An out-of-office that doesn't apologise for existing.
Saying "next week" and meaning it.
The office will be quiet again next August. The programme will still be moving. The only real question is whether you arrive in September restored, or simply still standing.
For now: consider this your permission to pause.
Want to learn more about mental well-being and understanding mental health, find out how by visiting our learning page.