Episode
Our summer downshift (and our July podbreak)
- Published
- Jun 25, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1272
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://aggressivelyhuman.substack.com/p/79-summer-sabbatical
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Summary
Taking the whole month of July off breaks the weekly cadence we’ve held all year—and one of us is famously bad at taking time off. But this isn’t a best-of rerun or a quiet fade; it’s a deliberate choice to downshift, and we wanted to talk openly about why we’re making it and what it actually takes to pull off. In this episode, we get into what’s behind our summer sabbatical: the planning required to step away (turns out you have to prep in advance), why listenership naturally dips in the summer, and why we decided against reposting old episodes under a “best of” label. Meg talks about her seasonal rhythm—short summers in a cold climate, kids’ camp schedules, less desire to sit at a microphone—and Jessica walks through a stretch of heavy travel, a meaningful family transition, and finally having the room to take a real beat. We talk about the difference between maintaining and growing, why a body of work keeps earning for you even when you slow down, and the case for “mental composting” as actual business strategy. We also get into relationship marketing that doesn’t look like marketing, and why taking time off doesn’t mean you’re bad at your business. Plus a live tarot pull that may or may not predict another book. * Why we’re taking all of July off—and why it’s a sabbatical, not just a slowdown * The prep it actually takes to step away (hint: start two to three months out) * How summer listenership shifts when everyone’s out living their lives * Meg’s seasonal rhythm: cold-climate summers, camp schedules, and working less on purpose * Jessica’s summer of travel, a family transition, and finally taking a beat after years of building * Why a “body of work” keeps working for you when you stop pushing * Mental composting and the case for creative downtime (see: Lin-Manue…