Progressions

The Power of the Pause: Why Slowing Down Moves You Forward

The end of the semester always feels like a sprint to the finish line. Between finals, deadlines, PRSSA events and a calendar that feels like it’s bursting at the seams, there’s hardly time to breathe — let alone pause. It’s easy to believe that if I just push a little harder, stay up a little later, I’ll finally catch up. The truth is, the faster I move, the more I seem to lose sight of where I’m going.

I’ve always felt responsible for holding things together. I’m a perfectionist, a people pleaser and a chronic overthinker. My nervous system rarely gets the memo to rest. By the middle of the semester, I’m already burnt out; by the end, I’m running on fumes. It’s an unhealthy cycle, but it’s one I’m finally learning to recognize — and, slowly, to break.

This winter, I’m trying something new. I’m pushing pause.

If you’re anything like me, slowing down doesn’t come naturally. I equate stillness with laziness and quiet with guilt. There’s always something I “should” be doing — responding to an email, completing an assignment, or updating my résumé. Productivity has become my default setting, and even when I am resting, my mind is already planning the next task. 

Somewhere between the deadlines and the caffeine, I started to realize that my body was keeping score. I was exhausted, irritable and mentally checked out. My brain was loud, but my energy was gone. It wasn’t sustainable — not for the rest of the semester, not for a career in communications and certainly not for a fulfilling life.

My mind and body have been screaming at me to slow down. It’s easy to ignore the signs — the headaches, the irritability, the nights where I can’t shut my brain off — because busyness feels like progress. The more I’ve ignored those signals, though, the louder they’ve gotten.

I’ve also noticed how burnout drains my creativity — which, ironically, is the very thing PR thrives on. When I’m constantly in motion, my ideas feel surface level, but when I give myself time to rest, read, write or connect with people just because I want to, I start to feel inspired again. It’s funny how doing “nothing” often leads to my best ideas. 

So this winter break, I’m not making a to-do list. I’m making space.

For the first time, I’m giving myself permission to rest. That means reading for pleasure, journaling just because I want to, diving into Substack essays that make me think, reconnecting with friends and family and yes — maybe even doing absolutely nothing.

When I finally do stop moving long enough to catch my breath, I notice things I’d been too busy to see — how far I’ve come, what I actually value, where I want to grow next. Those insights don’t come from pushing harder; they come from quiet.

That doesn’t stop once winter break is over. Learning to make space for rest matters just as much during the semester as it will in our careers. As students, that might mean going for a walk between classes, saying no to a commitment when our plates are already full or taking a real lunch break instead of eating while we answer emails. 

As I approach my last semester of college, I’m realizing how essential this lesson will be beyond campus. The PR field thrives on deadlines, collaboration and constant communication — but sustainability matters just as much as ambition. The professionals who last aren’t the ones who never stop; they’re the ones who know when to pause. That might mean using a week of paid time off, taking a random Friday off or simply stepping away from the desk for a short walk. Rest doesn’t have to be dramatic to be effective — it just has to be intentional.

Slowing down isn’t about losing momentum. It’s about maintaining it. It’s about coming back to yourself so you can keep showing up — for your work, your peers and your future self.

We joke about New Year’s resolutions and how no one sticks to them — but this isn’t one. This isn’t about setting goals or making promises I can’t keep. It’s about giving myself permission to rest, without guilt, without justification.

Maybe you need that permission too.

As the semester wraps up and the noise quiets, take a moment to pause. Let yourself rest — not because you’ve finished the race, but because you deserve to feel whole while you run it.

Progress doesn’t always mean pushing forward. Sometimes, it means pressing pause.