Summer Permission Slips | The Productivity Hack You're Ignoring

What if the most productive thing you do this week is rest?
 In this Soul Spa episode of the EmpowerHER Business Podcast, Linette Cottrell shares a gentle reminder that you don't have to earn rest—you simply need it because you're human.

In this Soul Spa Series episode, Linette introduces "Summer Permission Slips"—the permission to rest, not because you've earned it or finished everything, but because rest is a necessity. She also explores why fun is productive, how joy restores us, how play awakens creativity, and how laughter helps reset the nervous system, along with five fun activity ideas for this week.

In this Summer Permission Slips episode, you’ll learn:

• Why you don't have to earn rest before taking it
• How joy, play, and laughter support creativity and nervous system regulation
• Why fun is productive and essential for sustainable entrepreneurship
• Five simple, joyful activities to try this week
• A gentle reminder to give yourself permission to pause without guilt

This episode is part of The Soul Spa—short solo pauses you can return to whenever you need a moment of grounding.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hey beautiful, welcome back to the Empower Her Business Podcast Soul Spa series, where our intention is to bring you food for your soul. This is your space to pause, to breathe, and to come back to yourself. Here we navigate through the nuances and internal challenges of building a great business, bringing inside clarity, and tapping into our inner guidance. I'm your host, Lynette Cottrell, founder of Empower Her Bookkeeping and Advisory, where I guide women founders through compassionate accounting, financial education, and financial leadership. Women move from overwhelm and avoidance to confidence and the capacity to build business and wealth that are designed to last. And today I'm handing out summer permission slips. That's right. Every one of you are going to get a set of permission slips for this summer, or at least for the things we all should be focusing on this summer. And today's permission slip may feel a little uncomfortable if you're a woman who always feels like she should be doing something productive. Okay, and I have to confess that's me. That's one of my challenges. And here's my permission slip and your permission slip for today. It's the permission to rest. Not because we've earned it, not because we finished everything, because let's face it, that never happens, but simply because we're human and rest is a necessity. And while we're resting, I'm going to add another layer to this. I would love for us to remember something we often forget as adults, that fun, yes, that three-letter word, fun, is productive too. Did you know that joy restores us, that play awakens our creativity, and laughter actually resets our nervous system. So this week I am inviting us, you and me, to choose one of the following five summer fun ideas. So number one, go outside and play. Yes, go outside and play. Play one of your childhood games. Or take a walk. Sit under a tree. How about watch the sunset? Put your feet in the grass. Now it's been raining a lot here in Florida, so I can't actually go out and put my feet in the grass today, but what I have done is I've sat outside on the patio and listened to the rainfall and just enjoy the breeze. So that's our first permission slip idea for fun. Go outside and play. Number two. Your second option is to buy a bottle of bubbles. Seriously, any size of bubbles, and go outside and blow bubbles. It's gonna make you smile. It's going to make you laugh and remember when you were a little girl and you didn't need a big reason to laugh. So number two is buy a bottle of bubbles. Number three, read for pleasure. And you know, I started to say just get a book and read daily for 30 minutes, either in the morning, at lunchtime, or right before you go to bed. But then I realized who I was talking to: women founders like me. So I had to add this caveat. It has to be a book of fiction. It cannot be a business book. It cannot be a leadership book. It must be fiction. Read something just for fun. Let it be a mystery book or a book about magic or it can even be a love story. It just has to be fiction. That's your number three. Number four, create a joy playlist and fill the list with about five songs that make you want to dance. And then play those songs and dance your heart away in your kitchen, your living room, your bedroom, wherever. But give yourself a midday dance session with your joy playlist. And now for number five, take yourself on a mini adventure. You can go to the local ice cream shop and get yourself an ice cream sundae. You can go to the museum, look at art, or treat yourself to a coffee shop you've never visited. Just take yourself on a mini adventure. Make it a date with you. Okay, those are your five fun activity ideas for your permission slip to have fun this week. And we will close with a reflection and an affirmation. So our reflection for today's Soul Spa is this. Ask yourself, what brought me joy before life became so serious? And take time to sit in the answer and write the reflection. And our affirmation for today's SoulSpa is, I give myself permission to rest, to play, to have fun, and to remember joy. Again, I give myself permission to rest, to play, to have fun and to remember joy. Let's take a breath here. We will continue with the new permission slip next week. If today's experience resonated with you, I'm so glad you're here, and I invite you to trust what is stirring inside you. We will continue this walk together, but until then, take care of yourself, and I'll talk to you soon on the next episode of the Soul Spa. Be well.