Wow. What a year. (That’s a technical term.) I think I speak for most people that this year probably kicked our butts a bit more than we anticipated. Many folks around the world are having the same influences on their business which is making things harder, be it AI, the economy, politics or more.

It feels that this year perhaps didn’t cause dramatic burn out, not a single breaking point, but just… constant demand. New features, meetings that multiple, notifications that never stop. None of this makes you explode, it just erodes you. You usually notice when you’re suddenly irrationally annoyed by something completely trivial. Quiety.

Focus thins. Creativitiy dulls. Irratibility rasies. Decesions lag. And the dangerous part? You don’t notice until later.

This blog post is about relaxation and some mindsets I try to adopt when it’s time to switch off for the holidays — with mixed success, if I’m honest. Hopefully it helps you too.

This is the key mindset shift that matters going into 2026: Relaxation isn’t indulgence. It’s maintenance.

The Real Problem: Constant Pressure

Why It Matters

Humans aren’t designed for sustained cognitive load without release. Without deliberate downtime:

Decision quality drops
Emotional resilience weakens
Creativity becomes forced rather than fluid

You don’t “power through” this. You slowly calcify.

What To Do

Treat relaxation like upkeep. The same way you treat restarts, updates, and refactors.

Not a reward. A requirement.

Pressure Reduction, Not Activities

Here’s where most people get this wrong: Relaxation is not an activity.

Yoga. The beach. Hiking. These can help—but they’re not the thing itself. Framing relaxation as something you do can actually add pressure.

“How are you spending the holidays?” “What are you doing to relax?”

Now it’s another task.

The Better Frame

Mindset: Relaxation happens when demands drop.

Activities are just valves. They release pressure. They are not goals in themselves.

Ask instead: What reduces pressure for me?

That answer will be unglamorous. And that’s a good sign.

Manage Mental Bandwidth

You have two levers. Use either—or both.

Option 1: Subtract Noise

Fewer notifications
Fewer open tabs
Fewer meetings
Less background chatter

This is the cleanest form of rest. Also the hardest.

Option 2: Add Low-State Inputs

Think mental candy floss. Nutritionally pointless but just wonderful for the mind.

Simple, predictable, low-stakes input that blocks overthinking without demanding anything back.

Familiar TV and Movies. I myself am partial to the “Jason Statham Gets Revenge” genre (10+ entries!)
Loved books or comics.
Video Games that don’t punish failure. Sorry if I kill you in Fortnite.

Switching off is not laziness. It’s a feature.

Body First, Brain Follows

Mental tension often lives in the body first.

You can’t think your way out of a nervous system problem.

Underrated Resets

Walking
Stretching
Gardening
Repetitive handwork like knitting

Nature helps not because it’s pretty, but because it simplifies sensory input. Fewer signals. Less interpretation.

If you want clarity fast: move your body.

Mindset: Relaxation starts in the muscles before it reaches the mind.

Embrace Idle Time

Engineers hate boredom. We fill it instantly. Scroll. Refresh. Optimise. But idle time is where reorganisation happens.

Why It Matters

Patterns settle
Insights surface
Creativity returns without force

This only works if the time is actually unstructured. Doomscrolling isn’t boredom. It’s stimulation without rest. Get off TikTok — yes, even “just five minutes”.

What To Do

Choose genuine nothing. Unfilled time is not wasted time.

Stop Optimising Everything

Tech culture is very good at ruining hobbies. Tracking them. Improving them. Turning them into side projects or talks.

Over the holidays, let hobbies be:

Pointless
Messy
Bad

If it feels like achievement, it’s probably still work.

Mindset: Not everything needs to be a project.

One Mercy For Future You

Do one small thing. Not a plan. Not a system. Not a goal.

Just a single act that lowers January friction:

Tidy something. My sock drawer usally gets a clean up after tech conferences this time of year.
Fix something small. Hows your cabling looking under your desk right now?
Archive something noisy

Litmus Test

Does this remove future pain?
Or does it create a new commitment?

If it’s the second, stop. Frame this as kindness, not optimisation. Reduce future noise. Don’t chase productivity.

The 1% Rule For Life

This isn’t about transformation. It’s about maintenance. Relaxation is how you stay sharp. How you protect creativity. How you arrive in 2026 intact.

Improve your life by 1%. Then stop. That’s enough.

Key Mindsets

Relaxation is maintenance, not indulgence
Pressure reduction matters more than activities
Body state leads mental state
Idle time is essential, not optional
Hobbies don’t need outcomes
Kindness to future-you beats productivity

Happy Holidays. Consider this your gentle reminder to reboot, not upgrade.