Not Just Out of Office — Out of the Grind
Reclaiming rest as resistance in a world that demands your constant output.
A few weeks ago, I sent an email and received this out-of-office reply:
“I will be disconnecting from my work phone as a practice of self-care and viewing rest as resistance during my time off. Therefore, I will not have access to emails nor will I be answering calls or texts.”
I read it twice. Then I smiled.
With the sender’s permission, I’m sharing those words here to reflect on what it means to rest truly. Do not perform the rest. Not “catch up” while OOO. But to actually be off.
Rest as Resistance
Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry and author of Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto, writes:
“Rest is a form of resistance because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy.”
In her book, Hersey roots rest in liberation, especially for Black women. Rest isn’t a luxury; it’s a political act. It’s reclaiming what grind culture tries to steal: our bodies, our breath, our presence, our joy.
This truth also runs through Dr. Pooja Lakshmin’s Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included). She reminds us that self-care has its roots in radical, political origins. In part, social justice movements of the 1970s, including the Black Panther Party, began promoting self-care as a means for Black Americans to preserve their humanity in the face of systemic racism.
As Dr. Lakshmin explains, it was Black women, such as Audre Lorde, who helped actualize the concept into public discourse. Lorde famously wrote in her 1988 book, A Burst of Light:
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Self-care, in this context, isn’t about spa days or scented candles. It’s about survival, resistance, and reclaiming the right to rest in a world that often denies it.
The Myth of the “Productive Vacation”
And yet, how many of us are still checking Slack “just in case”? Responding to “quick emails” on vacation? Logging in with the thought, “I’ll just stay on top of things so it’s not so bad when I get back”?
We’ve all been there.
However, the person who sent the out-of-office reply took a different approach and later shared with me how they made their time off actually restorative. Their wisdom is too good not to pass along:
They were entirely disconnected — no texts, no email, no “just checking in.” The work phone was off.
They trusted their team and systems — They trusted that their leadership and team members had their back, through work duty coverage and policies and protocols that give everyone guidance and parameters of how to disconnect intentionally. Rest isn’t just an individual act—it’s a collective one.
They grounded themselves — They defined the “scope of possibilities,” meaning the spectrum of best and worst things that could happen while they were OOO. They determined that, as a legal services provider, they are not engaged in emergency or crisis response and therefore, nothing that could happen while they are out is life-threatening.
They made space for re-entry — by not opening their inbox first thing in the morning on their first day back. They waited until just before lunch, giving themselves only 10–15 minutes to skim, not sink. This forces them to “assess” instead of “do” and helps them not inundate their brain with a flood of unprioritized, unfiltered information.
They scheduled post-vacation check-ins before leaving — so updates could flow back in without digging through Slack, emails, or text messages. This signals to their colleagues that they will have space for updates upon their return.
They avoided holiday weekends — choosing regular workdays for PTO to allow space for proper rest and decompression as opposed to an extra day tacked onto a long weekend.
And perhaps most powerfully, they said:
“My time is valuable. My work is valuable. And resting from work is not a selfish act.”
Trauma-Informed Tools for Rest That Actually Restores
If you’re like me, sometimes even when you do take time off, you don’t fully let go. So here are a few practices, borrowed from both trauma-informed frameworks and burnout research, that help make time off actually restorative:
Before You Go
Communicate clearly: Let your team know when and how you’ll be offline. Provide alternate contacts.
Create a short handoff doc: List key dates, tasks in progress, and who’s covering what.
Write a values-aligned OOO message: Use language that reflects your priorities and sets an example for others.
While You’re Off
Silence notifications or delete work apps temporarily.
Interrupt “mental rehearsing”: If your brain goes into work-mode, gently bring it back, like a meditation practice.
Do less: Resist the urge to fill your days with activities. Leave space for quiet.
Reclaim your body: Walk, stretch, nap, float in water, lie in the sun. Let your nervous system reset.
On Re-Entry
Ease in: If possible, return on a Friday. Block off your first morning to reorient.
Delay inbox dive: Try opening email later in the day with a time cap.
Batch updates: Schedule a short team meeting to get caught up instead of reading 72 threads.
Honor the lag: Don’t expect to be at 100% right away. Re-entry is part of the process.
Rest Is the Work
For those of us doing justice work, whether we’re attorneys, advocates, healers, teachers, or organizers, rest often feels impossible. We’re holding trauma, navigating broken systems, and carrying far more than our share. So stepping away can feel like abandoning the mission.
But hear this: If we don’t pause, we become what we’re fighting against.
Taking time off isn’t selfish.
It isn’t lazy.
It isn’t optional.
It’s strategic.
It’s sacred.
It’s survival.
Rest is not the absence of justice work. It is part of justice work.
Rest is how we remember ourselves.
Rest is how we keep going.
And sometimes, an out-of-office reply?
It’s a small act of political resistance.
It’s a radical reclaiming of worth.
It’s a love letter to the movement.
So the next time you set your out-of-office message, ask yourself:
What would it look like to truly step away, not just from your inbox, but from the grind itself?
Give yourself the gift of complete disconnection. Trust that the work will still be there.
And when you return, come back restored, re-centered, and recommitted.
