Ep # 108: Your Calm Calendar: Rest, Burnout Recovery, and Resisting Hustle Culture with Nicole Havelka

Welcome back to another episode of noseyAF on Lumpen Radio!! We have Nicole Havelka joing us, a burnout recovery coach, mindfulness teacher, former pastor, and host of the podcast Just Rest: Burnout Tips for Everyday Radicals — to talk about what it actually takes to stop running on empty. Nicole gets into how she went from a self-described "recovering grind culture addict" to building a whole business around helping high-achievers and everyday radicals reclaim their time and energy. She introduces her Calm Calendar Club, a program built around planning your life in a way that actually honors your energy — not just squeezes more out of it. If you've ever felt like you're dropping the ball, this conversation will remind you: you're not dropping balls, you're just carrying too many.

What We Talk About

Okay, so pull up a chair — this one goes places.

How Nicole went from overachiever to burnout recovery coach (and what growing up in Omaha, Nebraska had to do with it)
Why hustle culture is literally designed for you to fail — and why that's not your fault
Burnout in ministry and why being "on call 24/7" is just not human
What COVID quietly taught us about the power of saying no
The seven types of rest from Sacred Rest by Sandra Dalton-Smith — sleep is just ONE of them
How planning your calendar with your values first changes everything
Why ADHD and neurodivergent folks need planning systems that actually work for their brains
The Calm Calendar Club: what it is, how it works, and who it's for
Why "you're not failing the system — you're just trying to do too much"
The radical act of rest as resistance, especially for Black women (shoutout to Tricia Hersey's Rest Is Resistance)
Doing your part in activism and community work — without burning yourself all the way down

Things We Mentioned

Calm Calendar Club — Nicole's program for planning your life around your energy and values → defythetrend.com/calm-calendar

Just Rest: Burnout Tips for Everyday Radicals — Nicole's podcast

Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey (affiliate link)

Sacred Rest by Sandra Dalton-Smith (the seven types of rest: physical, mental, sensory, creative, social, emotional, and spiritual) (affiliate link)

Artist Admin Hour — Stephanie's weekly co-working session for artists tackling the admin work that makes the work work → artistadminhour.com

Chapters:

• 00:33 - Introduction to noseyAF Conversations

• 04:36 - The Pressure of Hustle Culture

• 13:21 - The Challenge of Self-Care in Ministry

• 16:54 - Navigating Burnout and Community Engagement

• 23:50 - The Culture of Exhaustion

• 29:50 - The Importance of Rest and Reflection

• 37:30 - Addressing Time Management Challenges

• 44:55 - Planning for Success: Reflecting on Your Values

• 47:03 - Exploring Priorities and Planning Strategies

• 54:45 - Exploring the Importance of Rest

• 01:01:21 - Finding Balance: The Importance of Rest and Hobbies

All About... Nicole Havelka

You're gonna love Nicole — she's a burnout recovery coach and certified mindfulness teacher who spent years in ministry before turning her hard-won lessons into a whole business helping people resist hustle culture and build sustainable lives. Her whole thing is that rest isn't lazy — it's the foundation for everything.

More about Nicole: Nicole Havelka is a burnout recovery coach, mindfulness teacher, clergy person, and recovering grind-culture addict who helps people and organizations resist hustle and reclaim rest. A clergy person turned entrepreneur, she brings bold honesty and a healthy dose of play to help changemakers prevent burnout and build sustainable lives and workplaces. Nicole hosts the podcast Just Rest: Burnout Tips for Everyday Radicals and leads a community of Rest Rebels on Substack. → defythetrend.com | defythetrend.substack.com

Sponsor Shoutout 💖

This episode is brought to you by Artist Admin Hour The admin work that makes the work work. Every Wednesday, 7–9pm Central, artists show up on Zoom to tackle residency apps, grant applications, budgets, invoices — whatever you've been avoiding. Body doubling, no shame, real community. 25–45/month, but email Stephanie if that's not doable. → artistadminhour.com

Connect with Nicole Havelka

Website: defythetrend.com

Calm Calendar Club: defythetrend.com/calm-calendar

Podcast: Just Rest: Burnout Tips for Everyday Radicals

Substack: https://defythetrend.substack.com/

More ways to connect:

Email: stephanie@missgraham.com

Check out my work

Follow me on Instagram @stephaniegraham

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