The Rosie and Roula Show

216: Take a Break Without Guilt: Rest because Burnout Isn’t a Badge of Honour

• Roula Abou Haidar and Rosie Burrows

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After more than 200 podcast episodes, Rosie & Roula are hitting pause — without disappearing.

In Episode 216 of The Rosie and Roula Show, the hosts share why they’ve decided to take a three-week podcast break, how they’re handling it without guilt, and why rest is not a failure in a culture obsessed with productivity.

Instead of pushing through burnout, Rosie & Roula choose something radical: replays, boundaries, and recovery. Older episodes will be re-released (clearly marked as Replay) so listeners can revisit powerful conversations — or discover them for the first time.

The episode also opens a wider conversation about:

  • burnout culture
  • unrealistic work expectations
  • email pressure while on vacation
  • social media demands
  • why availability ≠ worth

This episode is a reminder that you are allowed to step back, especially when you’ve been showing up consistently.

In this episode, we talk about:

  • Why The Rosie and Roula Show is taking a short break
  • Releasing replay episodes without losing momentum
  • How burnout sneaks up on creators, parents & professionals
  • Why answering emails on vacation fuels modern burnout
  • Setting boundaries with work, social media & expectations
  • Choosing sustainability over hustle

Whether you’re a content creator, parent, entrepreneur, or employee — this episode gives permission to rest without explanation.

🎧 New episodes return in the new year. Until then: replay, recharge, and breathe.

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Rosie (00:00)
So Roula we have released more than 200 episodes. That's a big deal. And we did have a couple of weeks off over your summer, my winter or dry season, but we have made the decision, haven't we, to take some more time off. Three weeks, I think we said, wasn't it? So here is the plan,

Roula (00:19)
Yeah.

Rosie (00:27)
dear

Don't you worry.

because Roula and I won't be recording more episodes for three weeks, but we're still going to be showing up on your podcast app. So Roula, what is the plan here?

Roula (00:52)
Until the end of December, we will republish older episodes. I we have so many episodes that are worth re-listening to. We will republish these.

So if you're still bored and you haven't listened to our older episodes, you don't have to scroll back to search for something. We will give you a few stuff to just go in and listen.

Rosie (01:17)
It's like going in a time machine. Like I think we'd have a lot of new listeners who perhaps haven't gone back in the archive. And even if people have been here from the beginning, that's a lot of episodes. So sometimes it's fun to revisit them. I do that sometimes. So yeah, stick around. The episodes will be coming out. We will have something in the description or title to let you know that it is a replay. ⁓

Roula (01:24)
Correct, yes.

That's it, we're

gonna say replay. I love it, replay.

Rosie (01:43)
Okay, we'll call it replay. Easy. We'll have that at the beginning and then the title. ⁓

but please send us in messages, email, voice message, comments on YouTube and Spotify. There's so many ways. Poor Roula is coughing her lungs out. She had to mute her microphone. She's very unwell. So I think, and I was really sick last week. I think we both need this break. Just it's been a big year.

in good end and stressful ways, like about lots of different things. Yeah.

Roula (02:13)
It's been a, yeah, true. Yes.

And you know what, Rosie, we started the podcast to do something we like. And I feel now that I have myself less pressure from social media on my shoulders for the podcast. I'm like, well, we want to be in control of our podcast, but we don't want to burn ourselves. So taking time off and do Replays

I wish everyone can have this opportunity to recharge without worrying about the tons of emails that will end up in their inbox, for example. And on this note, I want to tell everyone, when you go on vacation and your email is full, you return, you do not answer any of these emails. Because if people really need you, they will email you again. Don't bother. You were away on vacation. If the company is ruined.

Rosie (02:44)
Yeah.

Roula (03:08)
Then it's not your problem. It's their problems that they have Plan B.

Rosie (03:10)
Yeah, work emails, fuck them, but I feel

like personal emails, I might still read those, but it's a good... Okay, all right, yeah. Work, you should not be working on your holidays. If you're taking time off work, they should not be expecting you to work. my goodness.

Roula (03:15)
Yeah, personal email is different.

Yes. And you know, just like we said about social media, we are the product because we allow it. We scroll. It's a that's what's in our episode that we will publish after this one. What I want to say is that we also teach our our boss or whomever we're working for that we're available for them 24 seven. Fuck that. This is modern slavery. You're not available for anyone on your vacation, only for your family, for yourself.

Rosie (03:33)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Roula (03:53)
and for your loved ones.

Rosie (03:54)
beautifully set. I have nothing else to add. That's perfect. And I don't think anything else needs to be said in this episode. It's just, we love you everybody. We're having a break, but replays will be rolling. And then when we're back in the new year, there'll be fresh episodes for you to listen to. And I think it's going to be a good year ahead.

Roula (04:15)
Yes. See you next year. Bye.