Feeling guilty for needing to slow down? This episode reframes Recovery as strategic work—not failure. Shannon unpacks why “doing less” can be the most productive choice, how to handle timeline pressure, and five practical tools to honor your capacity (without the shame spiral). If your body’s whispering “slow” while your calendar screams “go,” this one’s for you. What You’ll Learn
Why rest feels like failure (and how to reframe it as strategy)
The difference between restoration and distraction
How to spot and step away from timeline pressure and “bounce back” culture
The real meaning of productivity in Recovery
Five tools to navigate this season with clarity and grace
Key Takeaways
✨ Rest is strategic. If it replenishes capacity today or protects capacity tomorrow, it counts.
✨ Speed restores appearances. Wisdom restores capacity.
✨ Recovery meanders — and that’s not a malfunction.
✨ Your season. Your timeline. Full stop.
✨ Some days, a shower is a deliverable.
Five Tools for Recovery Season
1️⃣ Today’s Capacity Score (1–10): Plan your day to match your capacity. If you’re a 4, don’t plan for a 9.
2️⃣ No-Apology No’s: “That doesn’t work for me in this season.”
3️⃣ Recovery Wins List: Walk instead of scroll. Eat real food. Rest without guilt.
4️⃣ One Tiny Routine: Choose one habit for 30 days—morning tea before phone, a 10-minute walk, or Sunday rest day.
5️⃣ Find Your 1–3: One to three people who don’t rush you—therapist, friend, or community.
Related ResourcesFree 15-Minute Assessment: What Season Are You In?
Identify whether you’re in Recovery, Reinvention, Redirection, Integration, or Rebuilding—and learn what your current season actually needs from you.
Connect with Shannon: LinkedIn | Instagram
Recovery isn’t weakness—it’s wisdom. You’re not behind; you’re rebuilding. And rest might just be the most productive thing you do right now.
Subscribe to Right Now, This Matters for conversations and reflections that help you navigate life’s changing seasons—one Monday at a time.TAGSburnout recovery, resilience, rest and productivity, sustainable work, nervous system, capacity, boundaries, slow living, mental health, women in leadership
Description
On my 50th birthday, I realized I wanted to build my life around being present for my daughter. Three months later, I was laid off for the second time in two years. Instead of devastation, I felt relief—because I finally had permission to build something different.
This is the story of how Right Now, This Matters was born—not from having it all figured out, but from needing a framework to navigate my own messy transition.
What You'll Learn
Key Moments
[1:36] The 50th birthday clarity: "I want to build my life around being present for my daughter"
[4:07] The second layoff: "I wasn't devastated. I felt relief."
[7:13] The shift: "I was waiting for proof before committing. You can't get proof without commitment."
[11:57] How the framework was born: "What if we're not behind? What if we're just in different seasons?"
The Five Seasons (Preview)
This Episode Is For You If...You're navigating job loss, questioning your career path, dealing with burnout, trying to balance ambition with presence, or stuck between who you were and who you're becoming.
ResourcesFree Download: The Clarity Starter Kit - 15-minute assessment to identify your season→ https://rntm.kit.com/13aaf95912Connect: Find Shannon Macey on LinkedIn for daily insights on transitions and aligned decision-making: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/
Coming Up
Subscribe & ShareNew episodes every Monday. Leave a review if this resonated—it helps other women in transition find these conversations.
"You're not behind. You're becoming."
Keywordscareer transition, job loss, layoff, burnout, mid-career change, work-life balance, motherhood and career, seasonal framework, aligned decisions, leaving corporate
Episode Description
Not all transitions are the same. So why are we holding ourselves to the same timeline?
In this episode, we explore the 5 Seasons of Transition—a framework that helps you stop measuring yourself by wrong expectations and start honoring where you actually are.
You'll learn:
Whether you're healing from burnout, exploring new directions, making adjustments, bringing parts of yourself together, or starting over—this episode helps you name your season and understand what it needs.
The 5 Seasons
Recovery - Healing from burnout, loss, or difficult experiences. Needs: Rest, boundaries, permission to go slow.
Reinvention - Exploring new directions and questioning old identities. Needs: Curiosity, experimentation, tolerance for uncertainty.
Redirection - Adjusting course while staying in similar territory. Needs: Strategic thinking, measured adjustments.
Integration - Bringing together different parts of yourself. Needs: Time to reflect, both/and thinking, patience.
Rebuilding - Starting over after major life change. Needs: Foundation-first thinking, sustainable pace, intentionality.
"When you name your season, you stop measuring yourself by the wrong timeline. You give yourself permission to need what you actually need."
Resources
Download the Season Identification Guide—a 15-minute assessment to identify your season and what it needs.https://rntm.kit.com/13aaf95912LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/Email: shannon@rightnowthismatters.comFacebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/17FxWjrFh7/
Next Episode
Episode 3: Recovery Season—When Rest is the Work
New episodes every Monday.
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Right Now, This Matters • You're not behind. You're becoming.
On my 50th birthday, I realized I wanted the second half of my life to look different — to build a life centered on being present for my daughter.
Three months later, I was laid off for the second time in two years.
Instead of devastation, I felt relief — because I finally had permission to build something new.
I’m Shannon Macey, former VP turned founder, and I created Right Now This Matters — a podcast about career transitions that don’t follow the script.
Not all transitions are the same.
Some need rest. Others need experimentation. Some need strategic adjustments or complete rebuilds. But most advice treats every transition like it’s identical.
What if you’re not behind — you’re just holding yourself to the wrong timeline?
Launching November 4th, Right Now This Matters is an 8-episode series exploring the five seasons of career transition — Recovery, Reinvention, Redirection, Integration, and Rebuilding — and how to make aligned decisions when your measuring stick just broke.
Subscribe now wherever you listen.
You’re not behind. You’re becoming.
Follow me:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/smacey/
Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/?keywords=deliberate+thought
Artist: http://incompetech.com/