Summer Slows Down, But Your Inbox Doesn't Care

How to build productive pauses into a season that promises rest but delivers deadlines—and why that five-minute walk with your dog might be the most important meeting of your day.

There’s a duality to summer I keep noticing.

On one hand, it feels like the world is on pause — quiet trips to the lake, beach days, early mornings that invite you to linger over coffee or take the long way home. The heat slows everything down.

But work hasn’t gotten the memo.

Right now, I’m involved in 10 different business development opportunities — each one asking for creativity, focus, and follow-through. And the regular client work hasn’t slowed either. I’m lucky to work with clients who are growing and moving fast. But that kind of momentum carries weight.

Keeping pace takes more than a well-managed calendar and a solid to-do list. It takes a daily decision to make room for myself. For stillness. For something as small and non-negotiable as walking my black-and-tan terrier Harvey around the block — even when deadlines are crowding in.

Here’s what I’ve learned living in that tension:

Pauses aren’t idle. They’re where clarity happens.

A productive pause doesn’t mean stopping everything. It means making room to think, reset, and reenter the work with purpose.

That five-minute walk with Harvey?

It’s not procrastination. It’s maintenance.

That deep breath before a call?

Not a delay. A decision.

We’ve been conditioned to equate productivity with motion. But the best leaders I know understand the value of rhythm. Sprint, breathe, sprint, breathe. The breathing isn’t a break from the work. It’s part of the work.

Next week, I’ll be breathing a little deeper.

No newsletter while I head to the North Carolina mountains for some hiking, stargazing, and true rest. Because sometimes the most productive thing you can do is step away from productivity altogether.

What’s one way you’re building pause into your pace this summer?