The 3 Types Of Rest Every Founder Needs

Forbes

26-05-2025

The 3 types of rest every founder needs
Succeeding in business requires an endless list of skills. Sales, resilience, resourcefulness. Planning, listening, speaking, and building a personal brand. But there's one that most founders overlook: rest. The art of resting is one that entrepreneurs often think is beneath them. They overwork, hustle hard, and see rest as something the weaker business owners do. They are wrong.
Being "on" all the time is costing your potential. Believing rest is a waste of time is where you're going wrong. But rest is not the same. There are three different types. Deploy the right form of rest at the right stage of business to feel happy, healthy, and never lose momentum or mojo.
The data backs this up. 72% of entrepreneurs face mental health challenges, often tied to relentless pressure and lack of rest. Studies show that scheduled downtime and breaks lead to more innovative ideas and better solutions. Micro-breaks, even as short as a few minutes, significantly boost vigor and reduce fatigue, though longer breaks have a greater positive impact on performance.
Here's how and when to rest as an ambitious founder who suspects they are onto something.
Just starting out, just starting up, or running a business based around you? Rest matters. In the early stages, you have to take action. Getting in the habit of doing the work, shipping it, getting fast feedback and meeting as many people as possible takes more energy than you might have ready.
At this stage, rest is to recharge. To fill your tank and go again. Recognise when your stores are low, catch yourself yawning, know when you've overstretched, and plan to chill out for a defined period of time. When the battery is back at 100%, get out there.
Physical rest matters too. Sleep becomes non-negotiable when you're building something from scratch. Your body and brain need recovery time to process everything you're learning and experiencing. Eight hours of quality sleep gives you the mental sharpness to spot opportunities others miss. Skip it and you'll make expensive mistakes that could have been avoided with a clear head.
CEOs and business leaders at a more advanced stage of business need a different type of rest. This isn't about recharging to go again: you've graduated from that. Resting to reflect means creating mental space to process complexity, see patterns, and make strategic decisions that move your business forward.
At this level, you're juggling multiple priorities, managing teams, and fielding constant requests for your attention. Your days fill with meetings, decisions, and putting out fires. But the biggest challenges require quiet thinking time that never seems to happen naturally.
This stage demands you rest to reflect. Step away from the day-to-day and create mental space for clarity. Your brain needs processing time to connect dots, see patterns, and find solutions that aren't obvious when you're close to the chaos. Book thinking time like you'd book any important meeting. Protect it fiercely.
Take walks without podcasts. Sit in silence with a notepad. Let your mind wander between problems and possibilities. The breakthrough insights come when you stop forcing them. Your subconscious works magic when you give it room to breathe.
You've built something substantial. Revenue is flowing, your team is growing, and systems are firing. But somewhere along the way, you lost touch with why you started. The fire that got you here feels dimmed by spreadsheets and stakeholder calls.
Finding flow becomes your priority. Reconnecting with your source. Trusting your original intention. Listening to your inner voice again. This level of rest goes deeper than recharging or reflecting. You're seeking renewal of purpose.
Create space for what lights you up. Return to activities that made you feel alive before business consumed everything. Paint, write, build something with your hands. Spend time in nature. Have conversations that matter. The goal is remembering who you are beneath the founder identity.
Your business will benefit when you reconnect with your authentic self. Decisions become clearer. Innovation flows naturally. Leadership feels less forced. You stop performing entrepreneurship and start embodying it again.
Each stage of your business journey demands different forms of rest. Early stage founders need energy restoration. Growth stage leaders need clarity and perspective. Established entrepreneurs need purpose renewal.
Your next breakthrough might be one good rest away. Pay attention to which type of rest you need right now, and match your resting strategy to your current challenges. Stop treating all rest the same. Strategic rest becomes your competitive advantage.