Every January, we’re pushed to reset and “start strong,” often while still exhausted from the year before. This blog explores the psychological cost of starting the year in deficit, looking at burnout, chronic stress, productivity culture and workplace pressure, and why focusing on your recovery leads to healthier beginnings.

50 Cent’s Netflix documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning is about more than Diddy. It is a case study in narcissistic leadership, complicity and systemic abuse of power at work. DEI and workplace-culture consultant Leyya Sattar unpacks what the film reveals about enablers, proximity to power and how we stop feeding toxic systems.

The pressure to set resolutions, reinvent yourself and “start strong” every January is manufactured. Productivity culture pushes transformation while your body is still processing the year you’ve just lived. Winter in nature is a season of rest, not performance. This final post in our anti-productivity advent calendar is your reminder that you don’t need resolutions, you need time to recover and reconnect with yourself.

Constantly rushing isn't making you more productive, it's keeping your nervous system in survival mode. When you're packed hour to hour with no space to pause, your brain can't tell the difference between a deadline and a genuine threat. Everything feels urgent, high stakes, and critical. Learn how to "slow down to speed up" other practical nervous system regulation strategies in this article.

We explore why productivity is not your identity and how overwork, ‘hustle culture’, burnout and “busyness ” harm wellbeing and workplace inclusion. Learn why many performance issues stem from overload, not ability, and how reconnecting with your values can help you redefine success.

Feeling pressured to “finish strong” this December? This post explores why you don’t need to reinvent yourself for January, impress invisible audiences or push through exhaustion. Learn how reducing noise, honouring your limits and choosing intentional, values-led growth supports your mental and emotional wellbeing, clarity, and a healthier approach to the year ahead.

When you’re exhausted, everything feels urgent. Even small tasks become heavy because your nervous system is overwhelmed. Many people collapse on the sofa or scroll to “rest,” but that kind of passive distraction doesn’t help your body recharge. High-quality rest is intentional and helps your mind and body slow down so you can recover.

Most people try to plan their way into a better year. But if you’re exhausted, no planner or vision board will change how you feel at work or in life. Change comes from rest, discernment and noticing where your values are being pushed aside. Before you map out 2026, give yourself space to recover, listen to yourself and rethink the environments you’re returning to.

We're doing December differently. Our anti-productivity advent calendar is our stand against productivity pressure, unwanted resolutions, and the relentless grind that drains your energy every winter. Over 12 days, we're sharing reminders grounded in emotional intelligence, discernment, self-regulation, and self-care to help you move through the festive season with clarity and ease and step into January without pressure or performance.

One of the year’s highlights was speaking at B Lab UK’s ‘B Collective Gathering’, celebrating 10 years of the UK B Corp movement and the launch of their new global standards. As a long-time DEI partner to B Lab, Other Box led a session on Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Systems Change exploring how businesses can be a genuine force for good by embedding accountability, empathy and inclusion into everything they do.