Nostos Nest

06/01/2026

Better workplace culture isn’t created by posters or policies.
It’s built in everyday moments – especially in team meetings.

After 35+ years in corporate and years of mental health advocacy, I saw how connection, trust, psychological safety, and employee wellbeing grow when people feel included, heard, and supported in simple, consistent ways.

That’s why I created the Team Culture Playbook – 250 practical ideas you can use in the meetings you already have to improve:
• team connection and communication
• workplace culture
• psychological safety
• mental health and burnout prevention
• engagement and trust at work

You don’t have to be a manager to do this.
But managers shouldn’t be leaving it to their team.

If you care about creating healthier, more human teams – whether you lead people or not – you can find it here: https://nostosnest.com/product/the-team-culture-playbook/

06/01/2026

Burnout isn’t a personal failure.
It’s often the cost of being strong for too long without enough support or rest.

So many people stay in survival mode because stopping feels risky.
But recognising what’s happening and choosing to pause takes real courage.

You’re not broken.
You’re human.

Read the full blog post here: https://nostosnest.com/2026/01/strength-in-burnout-courage-to-seek-help/

05/01/2026

It’s the first week back at work for many people, which makes this a good time to reset how we protect our mental health at work.

One of the most overlooked burnout prevention strategies is protecting focus time.

When calendars are filled with back-to-back meetings, there’s no space left to think, process, or do the work those meetings are meant to support. Over time, this kind of work pattern leads to exhaustion and burnout.

Back-to-back calendars don’t make us productive - they make us depleted.

If you don’t protect your focus time, it gets swallowed. And mental health is often the first thing to suffer.

If this is your first week back at work, start here.
Guard your focus time - make it non-negotiable.

04/01/2026

Burnout is often misunderstood as weakness.
In reality, it usually shows up in people who have been strong, capable, dependable, and caring for a long time.

This post explores why recognising burnout takes courage, why rest is wisdom, and how burnout can become a turning point rather than an ending.

If you’ve been pushing through, holding it together, or quietly running on empty, this one is for you.

Read it here: https://nostosnest.com/2026/01/strength-in-burnout-courage-to-seek-help/

Discover the strength in burnout - why recognising you’re not ok and seeking help shows real courage and begins true burnout recovery.

03/01/2026

We talk a lot about strength, but not nearly enough about the strength it takes to say “I’m not ok”.

Burnout is often misunderstood as weakness or failure. In reality, it usually shows up in people who have been capable, reliable, caring, and strong for a very long time.

The courage comes when you pause, recognise what’s happening, and choose to listen to yourself instead of pushing through again.

I’ve written a new blog post about redefining strength and seeing burnout not as the end of resilience, but as a turning point toward something more sustainable.

It will be live on Monday 5th January at 10am AEST 🤍
Follow me, or join my mailing list on my website - if you don't want to miss it.

02/01/2026

You don’t need to rush into the new year with a full plan already formed.
Not every season begins with momentum - some begin with exhaling.

If you’re easing in slowly, taking your time, or simply letting yourself regroup after a big year, that’s more than ok.
It’s often the pause that creates the clarity.

Read the full blog post "The Art of Easing Into the New Year" here: https://nostosnest.com/2025/12/the-art-of-easing-into-the-new-year

01/01/2026

Friday mental health check-in time – and the first one of the New Year 💚

Every Friday I do a simple check-in to help us stay on top of our mental health, not just react when things get hard.

🟢 Feeling Good
🟠 Struggling a little
🔴 Struggling a lot
Or with a battery percentage – because we all know what it feels like to run flat.

Today I’m 🟢 and at 100%.

I’ve taken the last week slowly after Christmas – sleeping deeply, keeping life simple, and starting each morning with a walk somewhere different. Today it was the Bay Run. Also this is my third year in a row starting the New Year alcohol free, which feels really amazing.

Your turn:
How are you today – really?
If you’re not feeling good, what’s one small thing that might help?
If you are, how can you stay there?

I’ll be back next Friday. Have a lovely weekend 🤍

30/12/2025

If you’re feeling tired tonight or unsure about what 2026 is meant to look like, you’re not doing it wrong.

Last year, instead of resolutions, I wrote a vision for how I wanted to live - more freedom, better health, and greater alignment with who I really am.

A year later, I’m here. Not by accident, but because I gave myself permission to pause, reflect, and plan intentionally.

If you’ve had a full or exhausting year, a pause before planning might be exactly what you need too.

Wishing you and me a 2026 that ends with us exactly where we need to be.

30/12/2025

The new year doesn’t truly begin when the calendar flips to January 1.
It begins when you’ve had enough time to rest, reflect, and reset.

I wrote about this in my latest post because so many of us feel pressure to start the year with energy and clarity we simply don’t have yet.

It’s ok to ease in. It’s ok to take January slowly.
Clarity comes when your mind and body are ready - not when the fireworks fade.

Read the full post here: The Art of Easing Into the New Year
https://nostosnest.com/2025/12/the-art-of-easing-into-the-new-year/

29/12/2025

Burnout can feel like death by a thousand “shoulds.”

I should go.
I should say yes.
I should keep the peace.
I should help.
I should be grateful.

But burnout doesn’t usually come from doing too much of what we love.
It comes from filling our lives with things we don’t actually want to do - or don’t have the capacity for.

One of the biggest turning points in my own recovery was learning to pause and ask:

Why am I really doing this?
Because I want to?
Or because I feel like I should?

If you’re feeling stretched or resentful, start noticing the shoulds.
They're often the earliest warning signs.

28/12/2025

January doesn’t need to arrive with pressure.
Sometimes the most powerful way to begin a new year is by catching your breath and giving yourself room to think clearly.

This new post is a gentle reminder that you don’t have to launch straight into plans or goals. You can ease in, reflect, and let your direction take shape with a bit more space.

You can read the full post here: https://nostosnest.com/2025/12/the-art-of-easing-into-the-new-year

Start the year with calm and clarity. Discover the art of easing into the new year through reflection, rest, and gentle life planning with intention.

27/12/2025

If you’re feeling tired, reflective, overwhelmed, or emotionally flat heading into the new year, you’re not alone. The end of the year often brings burnout, pressure, workplace stress, family dynamics, and the weight of everything we didn’t get done.

What I’ve learned is that easing into the new year – not rushing into resolutions or goal setting – creates real clarity. Reflection, rest, and intention matter. Especially if you’re navigating burnout recovery, mental health, midlife change, or a year that stretched you thin.

My new blog post, The Art of Easing Into the New Year, goes live at nostosnest.com on Monday 29 December at 10am (AEST).