Why Are We Already Exhausted in the First Week of January?

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If you’ve felt oddly and eerily tired since the beginning of January, you’re not alone. It’s not the hours you spent staying up late watching Stranger Things, and it’s not all the winter treats you allowed yourself to gorge on over the holidays. That deep inner feeling of exhaustion, overwhelm, and somehow being behind isn’t imagined. It’s barely January, but you’re already asking: How did I start the year like this?

Every January, social media fills our minds with goal-setting templates and ambitions. “New year, New You.” “6 Weeks to a Six-Pack.” “5 Tips to Losing 50 Pounds.” This constant yearly messaging, productivity challenges, and wellness resets sound enticing, but they can only take us so far if we are already operating out of a place of burnout and exhaustion. Why? Because we need to change how we’re living day-to-day, not just for a weekend. 

According to recent reporting, most Americans set goals or resolutions before the clock strikes midnight on January 1st. These goals typically include productivity, health, or finances. But 80% abandon these goals by mid-February, throwing them out with last year’s trash (Forbes). Not a high success rate, right? But this isn’t new. 

While goal success declines, burnout rates only increase. The American Psychological Association (APA) notes that not only do post-holidays increase stress, but January often brings pressure to optimize, improve, fix, or hustle ourselves into better versions. We are promised peace and fresh starts, but sadly, left more tired than we started. 

Why does a season that promises do-overs so often leave us feeling depleted? And what if God never intended January to be about striving, but receiving? From the beginning of time (Genesis 1:1), God’s rhythm for humanity included rest before work (not after it). 

God rested on the seventh day not because He was tired, but because He knew that we would be. This was a gift and boundary given to protect and bless us (Mark 2:27). Not only does Jesus reframe the Sabbath as mercy instead of a checklist, but He also encourages us to stand apart in a culture that’s obsessed with performance and productivity. 

Will you rebel in the right way? In a way that says your worth isn’t measured by your output, but by who Christ says you are?

Sabbath Pushes Back Against Hustle Culture

While modern hustle culture thrives on urgency, God’s command to rest reminds us that we’re not God. Everything in this society is “now,” “next,” and “more,” but when we learn to obey the Sabbath, we interrupt that cycle. The world will continue to operate in this fashion, but guess what? It doesn’t need our constant effort. Trust is built when we release that control to the one who created it. 

In Exodus chapter 20, God doesn’t just command rest; He anchors it in our identity. Israel was told to rest because they were no longer slaves. God changed their identity, and yet they wanted to cling to the past. Slaves don’t rest, but free people do. 

Today, we struggle with the same. When we refuse to rest, we not only disobey God’s Word, but we quietly return to slavery. It’s hidden in deception and covered by “productivity,” “approval,” and “checklists,” but nothing is restful about being a slave to anything. 

Jesus Regularly Withdrew, Even When Needs Were Present

Instead of giving in to the grind, Jesus encourages us to take a bold step of resistance and withdraw. That doesn’t mean to ignore our to-dos, but rather to know our limits. 

In one of the most overlooked patterns in the Gospel, we see how Jesus consistently stepped away from the noise to press into what really mattered. In Luke 5:16, He withdrew to lonely places to pray. In Mark 6:31, the Disciples were astonished that He rested after a huge ministry success. Even in Mark 4:48, Jesus slept during a huge storm!

If anyone had a reason to stay busy, it was definitely Jesus. And yet, He modeled intentional withdrawal. Because obeying the Sabbath and staying in constant communication with our Father isn’t laziness—it’s required and necessary obedience to live our best and fullest lives.