How to Design a Slow Summer (and Still Run a Serious Business)

It starts with a text from your kid.

Or your partner.

Or a calendar reminder you forgot to snooze.

You’re halfway through another back-to-back-to-back day and realize—somewhere between all the meetings, updates, and urgent requests—that summer’s already happening.

Just not to you.

Most founders don’t intend to miss it.

But business doesn’t slow down just because the weather warms up. That’s the lie we all quietly believe: if I stop for a second, it’ll all fall apart.

Or worse, someone else will race ahead while I’m sipping something cold and watching my kid cannonball.

The truth?

Some of the most effective, profitable, and trustworthy leaders you know are moving slower than you think.

On purpose.

Basecamp (now 37signals) has built an entire culture around this. They shift to a 4-day workweek every summer—and not as a gimmick; co-founder Jason Fried has said it flat-out leads to better thinking, stronger focus, and less burnout.

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The Slow Summer Mindset

"Slow" doesn’t mean less ambition. It means better priorities. It means asking: what’s truly essential right now?

What will still matter in September? And what can I unapologetically put on pause?

The point isn’t to go off-grid (unless you want to). The point is to build a summer cadence that reflects your real values—whether that’s more family time, more headspace, or more white space on your calendar.

This isn’t a vacation. It’s a rhythm.

And rhythms, unlike hustle, scale.

Buffer gets it. They introduced Summer Fridays years ago and saw engagement go up. Not just from employees, but from clients.

Why?

Because people work better when they’re trusted to breathe.

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What You Don’t Need to Do

Slow summers work because you cut the noise. Not because you do more behind the scenes.

Here’s what gets cut:

• Networking events that don’t feed you
• One-off coffee chats
• Panels, podcasts, and webinars you said yes to out of guilt
• Endless business development meetings
• Startup happy hours with warm beer and colder leads

You’re not being flaky. You’re being clear.

You’re choosing real client work (the right kind), focused team time, and maybe—just maybe—a few mornings that start with something other than Slack.

Gin Lane, one of the most design-forward agencies in NYC, used to shut down completely every summer for a week or two.

They called it necessary—not generous. Creativity needs recovery. Their output showed it.

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How to Actually Make It Work

Here’s the part that matters: your calendar needs to know it’s summer. Not just your brain.

1. Block the time like it’s sacred. Don’t just say you’re going to be slower. Create non-negotiable windows where nothing gets booked. Put a big ol’ sunscreen emoji on it if you have to.

2. Pre-set your no. Write your "thanks for thinking of me, but I’m on a slower cadence right now" email before the invites come. Slow doesn’t work if you keep deciding in the moment.

3. Tell your team—and your clients. Let people know what to expect. Good clients won’t bail. In fact, they’ll probably wish they could do the same. You’re modeling boundaries. That builds trust.

4. Keep systems running. Just because you’re off Zoom doesn’t mean your ops fall apart. Lean on automation. Schedule content. Delegate what doesn’t need your real-time input. You’re not ghosting your business. You’re letting it breathe.

5. Capture, don’t create. Use the space to jot down ideas, voice memo future blog drafts, or sketch out what your fall could look like. Don’t pressure yourself to produce. Just be ready to harvest when the season shifts.

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What Happens When You Commit to Slow

A few things usually happen:

• Your best ideas show up uninvited.
• Your kids (or partner, or dog) notice you’re actually present.
• The urgent starts to feel a lot less important.
• You remember why you built this thing in the first place.

And here’s the kicker: your business doesn’t crumble. It clarifies. Clients respect your boundaries. Your team steps up. You come back to fall sharper, more grounded, and more clear on what actually moves the needle.

This isn’t indulgence. It’s strategy.

And the most successful companies—like Basecamp, Buffer, and Red Antler—aren’t doing this as a perk.

They do it because it works.

At Big Pixel, we believe that business is built on transparency and trust. We believe that good software is built the same way.

And we also believe you can run a serious, growth-minded business without letting the whole summer slip through your fingers.

So here’s your permission slip: Say no. Say not right now. Say yes to what matters, and let the rest wait.

You don’t need to earn rest. You need to design for it.