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If you ask my friends or colleagues to describe me, the unanimous response would be “shes someone who gets sh*t done.” Its become a well-worn badge of honor for me. Productivity isnt something I do, its become something I amand its exhausting. As it turns out, Im not alone in this. For those of us who value productivity above all else, we’re far more likely to experience chronic stress or burnout. One 2025 study shows just how widespread levels of chronic stress and burnout are, with over one-third of the workforce reporting they were chronically stressed or burned out last year. Many of us feel like were walking a delicate line between balance and overwhelm. And whats making it worse, theres a constant pervading message that to be successful, we have to do it all and be it all, all at once. By todays standards, success looks like a highly paid career that were deeply passionate about, all while training for a half-marathon, maintaining an A-list celebrity skincare routine, and jetting off somewhere new every vacation. Is it any wonder we feel the need to be compulsively productive? Lets unpack why we feel this way: 1. Were conditioned to equate self-worth with productivity From the time were children, people praise us for our outputs. That might look like good grades, completing household chores, successful sporting results, or other performances. We learn early that doing and achieving make us more valuable. So when were at rest, our nervous system struggles to regulate because we cant feel at ease when were not achieving something. 2. Guilt is a social emotion, and were hardwired for belonging In communities and societies where were interdependent on one another, we can feel like were letting others down or being selfish when we rest. This is your brains way of scanning for the social and interpersonal consequences of resting. Whats interesting is, even in our increasingly individualistic cultures, we tend to label ourselves selfish or lazy. We do this even when resting is completely harmless to those around us and high performance is a matter of personal choice. 3. We conflate rest with quitting If you wear productivity like a badge of honor, youre also likely to value traits like reliability, infallibility, strength, and dependability. But heres the thing: you can still be “the strong one” and take restits recovery, not failure. Resting is not the same as quitting. 4. Urgency culture has rewired your nervous system In a capitalist culture that values hustle, visibility, speed, and responsiveness, stepping away to rest can feel literally threatening. Being always on and always available can put us into a state of hypervigilance. This is when our nervous system is in a constant state of alertness, scanning its environment for threats. But for the most part, the threats in our modern environment arent real. 5. Rest is stillness and spaciousness, and that removes distraction When youre always on, busyness becomes a safe state because its distracting you from acknowledging deeper emotions. Rest removes this distraction. When you slow down, you create time and space to be with your thoughts and emotions, which can feel really uncomfortable. 6. Rest just feels like another to-do Because modern life requires us to go through a long list of to-dos, rest is something we feel guilty doing, and guilty without. But rest isnt a problem you need to solve, or something to hack or optimize to achieve better productivity. You also cant fix it with expensive products and experiences. This is capitalism cashing in on the monster it created. Reframing your view of rest The first step to resting well is to decouple it from your identity. Being a person who prioritizes rest doesnt mean you cant still be dependable, reliable, and strong. If you want to embody those traits, they need to coexist alongside rest. Instead, align rest to your core values. You want to tell yourself, “When I rest, I can be more present with what matters to me.” The next step is reframing what rest means to you. Most of us only rest after we feel depleted. We treat it as recovery. But if we reframe rest as regulation, then it becomes about keeping our nervous system within a healthy range. It’s not about trying to fix it once weve pushed ourselves too far. In the same way you might train in the gym each day to keep your body strong, treat rest as part of your personal maintenance strategy to keep your mind, body, and emotions strong. Understanding what type of rest you need Its also important to attune to the type of rest you really need. Most of us equate rest to sleep, but its so much more than that. I learned from Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith, author of Sacred Rest, that there are multiple different types of rest. If we arent getting the right type, we can find ourselves still tired or depleted even after resting. The first type is physical rest. This is what you need to restore the body, especially after sitting in an office all day, after poor sleep, or if youre chronically tense. If you feel tired but wired, physical rest, such as gentle movement, can help calm the body and prepare it for sleep. When were overstimulatedwhich occurs often in our social media-obsessed modern worldwe might need sensory rest. This is where we reduce audio and visual inputs from screens, televisions, and environments that put a heavy load on our sensory processing system. If youre feeling forgetful, foggy, or overwhelmed, these can be signs you need cognitive (mental) rest. If youve got a lot on your plate and are constantly task-switching or multitasking, this puts an additional strain on your mental capacities. Try doing just one thing at a time, and creating routines around the easy stuff to reduce your need for constant decision-making. When youre feeling exhausted from being always “on,” you need emotional rest. This can occur if you need to act or perform a certai way in your workplace, like in customer service, and feel a sense of exhaustion from suppressing natural emotions and behaviors. If you find yourself exhausted or annoyed in the presence of others, this indicates you might need social rest. If we spend time around others who deplete and drain our energy, this can take a toll on our system. You need spiritual rest when you feel ungrounded, disconnected, or cynical. We get this type of rest by slowing down and spending time clarifying what’s important to us, engaging in spiritual practices like meditation, contemplation or journaling, and other rituals that help connect us to ourselves. Lastly, if youre constantly problem-solving, ideating, or analyzing, this can leave you in need of creative rest. This isnt about making something; its about immersing yourself in nature and beauty without the demand to produce outputs. Rest can feel elusive, but you actually have more agency than you think. When we reframe our relationship with rest, and attune to the type of rest we really needby listening to our minds, bodies, and emotionswe can nourish ourselves regularly rather than trying to recover from depletion.
Category:
E-Commerce
Nili Lotans Tribeca flagship has been a fixture in the neighborhood for 20 years. It’s an austere space that brings her aesthetic universe to life, one that blends silk slip dresses with military-inspired jackets, and crisp button-down shirts with utilitarian pants. But now, across the street, there’s a second store devoted to just one thing: denim. No knits. No tailoring. Just jeans. Denim has always been at the heart of Lotan’s collections, but Lotan has found that the careful design of the jeansand care that went into making themgets lost when they are folded into seasonal collections. Now, the denim store and flagship operate as a single ecosystem. Sales associates help clients find their favorite jeans, then walk them over to complete the look. [Photo: Nili Lotan] This new store is part of Lotan’s growing fleet of seven stores around the world, alongside a healthy wholesale business that spans upwards of 150 stores. She launched this business in 2003 without outside investment, growing slowly and conservatively, prioritizing profitability over growth. Nili Lotan has a cult following that spans from Seoul to Paris, achieving a scale that looks effortless nowbut was earned through two decades of discipline, focus, and creating products that aren’t built on trends. It takes about 15 years to be an overnight success, Lotan says. But when you get there, you know what youre doing. [Photo: Nili Lotan] Designing For Herself Lotan grew up in Israel, the daughter of European immigrants, and moved to New York in her early twenties. Before launching her own label, she spent decades working for other designers including Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, and Adrienne Vittadini. I worked six years in every company that I worked for, she says. I learned. When she launched her brand, she had modest ambitions. She designed five pieces, each carefully chosen to reflect her own distinct style and point of view. Her look is defined by the collision of contrasting aesthetics: refined silk blouses with workwear trousers, feminine dresses with menswear-inspired jackets, pairing leather pants and jackets with office attire. The aesthetic is easy to wear but also a little surprising. Lotan is part of a cadre of independent women designersincluding Jenni Kayne, Rachel Comey, Veronica Beard, and Jamie Hallerwho design based on their own personal style and lived experience, treating their own wardrobes as research. For stylish, well-heeled women in big cities, the approach of smaller designers is more intriguing than larger luxury houses. Shon [Photo: Nili Lotan] Nili Lotan Loves Denim For two decades, Nili Lotan’s best-selling product has been the Shon jean, which features a slightly barrel shape, inspired by vintage workwear and military garments. Lotan was immediately intrigued by its silhouette, which stood out at a time when skinny jeans were all the rage. She styled it with unexpected tops, like blazers and lacy blouses. Lotan believes part of her success comes from not chasing trendseven when trends eventually catch up. Over the few years, barrel-leg jeans had a moment. “Everyone finally caught up,” she says. But even as the trend has faded, the Shon continues to fly off the shelf. “People are drawn to my pants not because they’re in fashion, but because they capture a feeling: It’s rebellious, it’s cool, it has a personality. For Lotan, part of the appeal of denim is that it is a complicated material to work with. To achieve the look you want, you have to consider how the fabric is dyed, bleached, and softened, then distressed by sanding and stone-washing. Then, you need to work with experts who can cut and sew the thick, heavy material. She works with just two Japanese fabricsstretch and non-stretchand launders everything in a Los Angeles factory that uses solar power and recycled water to reduce water use by up to 90%. If you start with not-so-good fabric, youre never going to get authenticity, she says. Designing is like cooking. Youre only as good as the material youre using. Florence [Photo: Nili Lotan] Today, 45% of Lotan’s business comes from five pairs of pants. The silhouettes are varied. Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg have been very influential to Lotan. The Celia jean is a mid-rise flare inspired by the looks Birkin would wear in the 1970s; the Florence jean is a flare with two patch pockets n the front inspired by the French sailor pants Birkin wore all her life. Then there’s the Shon. It now comes in every possible denim wash, and even other materials, including corduroy, cotton, linen, and leather. “Some of my customers have 10 Shons,” says Lotan. “They will buy them in every configuration, every fabric.” The denim store is designed to be a pure expression of Lotan’s design philosophy. It’s a place where customers can slow down, try things on, and understand what theyre buyingand why it feels different. On the floor, Lotan displays some of her sources of inspiration, including the flight suit her husband wore as a pilot in the Israeli Air Force. “This is what started it all,” she says.
Category:
E-Commerce
Jimmy Donaldson might have made his fortune on YouTube, but the man better known as MrBeast has plans for a much wider financial empireand hes well on his way to achieving it. Through Beast Industries, the $5 billion holding company for his growing corporate ecosystem, Donaldson is assembling a wide range of businesses that extend far beyond the influencer space. The latest expansion came on February 9, with the purchase of the teen-focused banking app Step. Banking isnt the end game, either. Beyond his current holdings, Donaldson has broader ambitions that could further diversify his income streams. Heres a look at the businesses currently under the Beast Industries umbrella, along with one Donaldson hopes to add in the months ahead. Feastables Donaldson makes more from Feastables than he does from his social media videos. Launched in 2022 as a chocolate bar company, it quickly expanded into other snacks, including cookies and gummies. The products are stocked at Walmart, Target, and CVS and distributed internationally. And despite spending virtually nothing on advertising and marketing, the company hit annual revenue of $200 million faster than any other consumer packaged goods brand, ever. Lunchly This joint venture, founded alongside Logan Paul and KSI, two other giants in the creator space, is positioned as a healthier alternative to Lunchables (though there’s virtually no evidence backing up that claim). The brand had a big PR misstep in 2024, when its meals were alleged to contain moldy cheese, which caught the attention of the Food and Drug Administration. Lunchly got through that controversy and its products are still on the market, with four varieties of snack kits available at stores. Step Donaldson’s most recent acquisition takes him into the fintech space. Step is a digital banking platform that counted Justin Timberlake, Will Smith, and Stephen Curry among its investors. It caters to younger generations, offering savings accounts, a debit-card-like Visa that builds their credit score, and more. (Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.) In a February 9 social media post, Donaldson said he saw the Step acquisition as an opportunity to “give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had. Step will likely be folded into a new division, called MrBeast Financial, which Donaldson recently trademarked. MrBeast Channels Donaldson might be branching out, but to many people he remains, above all, a YouTube star. His primary channel is the most subscribed to in the world. Localized channel offshoots show his videos with Hindi, Spanish, and other non-English voice-overs. His additional channels, including Beast Reacts and MrBeast Gaming, further boost his online presence. Beast Games In 2024, Donaldson expanded beyond online videos to the streaming world, acting as executive producer for Beast Games, which airs on Amazon Prime Video. That show went on to become the most-viewed unscripted series in Prime Video’s history, attracting more than 50 million viewers within its first 25 days. A second season debuted on Prime Video in January, quickly climbing to become the most-streamed program on the service. Beast Philanthropy Not all of MrBeast’s business ventures are for-profit. Beast Philanthropy is a 501(c)(3) organization that aims to leverage social media to raise funds for global charitable causes. In November, the unit announced a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation to combine their strengths. Months before that, Donaldson livestreamed for 15.5 hours to collect money for charity, raising $12 million in that time, setting a new record. MrBeast Labs This line of toys, launched in 2024, didn’t get the online push that Feastables did (in part because Donaldson was weathering some controversies at the time). That didn’t hurt the reception much, though. Thanks to positive media reviews, the minifigures were topping the sales charts on Amazon within a year. Prices for the toys range from $5 to $25. Beast Animations Another YouTube channel, Beast Animations features short-form videos based off of the MrBeast Lab toy line. Using an anime-like art style, the 10-episode series has been viewed more than 42.5 million times since its debut in October 2025. There’s no word yet on whether a second season is planned. Viewstats Donaldson is famously obsessed with data, so it’s not a big surprise that he built his own platform to analyze the numbers on his many channels. And given his wide swath of business ventures, it’s not too surprising that he began distributing those digital tools to other content creators. Viewstats markets itself as a device to help creators “create video ideas, titles, and thumbnails that go viral.” MrBeast Burger A rare misstep for Donaldson, this chain stumbled after customers complained about undercooked burgers. Envisioned as a delivery-centric venture specializing in burgers and fried chicken sandwiches, MrBeast Burger was meant to be a cornerstone of a food empire. Initially, it did well, selling 1 million burgers in three months. But then the quality complaints started and Donaldson got frustrated with Virtual Dining Concepts, his partner in the venture, which led to a bitter court battle. The business is still operating, but Donaldson has de-emphasized it amid his other ventures. Beast Mobile This is a business that Donaldson has not yet launched, but one he has made clear is a goal. In December, Beast Industries CEO Jeffrey Housenbold said at The New York Times DealBook Summit that the company plans to launch a phone service that would leverage MrBeasts popularity to sell wireless plans. Rather than building its own cellular network, Beast Mobile would likely be a mobile virtual network operator, running on the infrastructure of an existing carrier, similar to Mint Mobile. No timeline for the launch has been announced.
Category:
E-Commerce
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