As I emerged from my children’s earliest years—a miasma of Duplo blocks, nursing pads and sleepless nights—I felt utterly depleted, not just in a physical sense but in a creative one. Gone were the days I’d spent head-down in essays or book projects. I was lucky if I got 20 minutes to focus before the next high-pitched interruption.
So I decided to take a cue from the writer Joyce Maynard, who sometimes holes herself up in motels to write. In chats with my husband, I floated the idea of a micro-retreat: checking into a room a little after noon, then returning around the same time the next day.
These micro-retreats have proven so energizing that I now take a few each year—and science suggests such hiatuses, despite their brief duration, can renew enthusiasm and relieve mental exhaustion in potent ways. They’re a welcome temporary escape from a chaotic and overclocked world.