_edited_edited_edited.jpg)
How to Recover From Burnout: The Royal Navy Make and Mend Rule
- Sam Kinsey-Briggs
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Lost in Translation #6: Make and Mend
The afternoon off the Navy built into the programme. And why you need one too.
In the Royal Navy, Make and Mend is an afternoon off.
Originally, it was practical. Sailors were given time to repair their kit. Uniforms mended. Gear maintained. The things that kept you functional at sea, looked after.
Over time the tradition evolved. Make and Mend became sanctioned rest. A deliberate pause built into the ship's programme.
Not a reward for working hard enough.
A requirement for being able to keep going.
The difference matters more than it sounds. It's how to recover from burnout.
HMS Ark Royal. Mallorca. The Flats.
I had recently transferred from the Army to the Royal Navy. Everything was new. The language, the routine, the culture, the hierarchy of a ship's company working toward a common purpose in a floating world.
Captain's Rounds were coming. For anyone unfamiliar, this is a formal inspection of the ship by the Commanding Officer. Everything must be right. Every space immaculate. Every person, every surface, every corner.
Our team spent a significant amount of time on our hands and knees scrubbing the flats. Passageways. Decks. Every inch of space that the Captain's eye might fall on.
As a new transfer from the Army, I had no idea what any of this meant. But working alongside the ship's company, shoulder to shoulder, getting it done together, taught me more about teamwork in those few days than months of classroom theory.
The inspection went well.
And afterwards, our team was given a Make and Mend.
I did not know what that meant.
But when someone mentioned the beach in Mallorca, I worked it out quickly enough.
That afternoon felt like a collective exhale. A reset. After the hard work, the sustained effort, the scrubbing and the inspecting, we were given permission to stop. To revive. To do something fun and remember why all of it was worth it.
If you work hard, you should programme the recovery.
That is not a soft idea. That is how performance works.
My Make and Mend Right Now
I am using this career transition period as a Make and Mend in the most literal sense.
The body needs maintenance. Menopause brings its own changing landscape, new things to understand, adapt to, manage. The temptation on the harder days is to do nothing. To sit with the lethargy and the aches and the disrupted sleep and decide that today is not the day.
But nothing compounds faster than neglect. And nothing improves faster than consistent, gentle attention to the basics.
I am undertaking a focused physiotherapy programme to address chronic lower back and hip pain and to build the strength and foundation that will carry me into the next chapter properly. I am also spending time with family and friends, celebrating people I love, rebuilding the social connections that a busy final stretch of service can quietly erode.
This is Make and Mend.
Not luxury. Maintenance.
The kit that needs attention so it can keep performing.
What We Neglect First
Here is what I notice, both in my own life and in the people I work with.
When things get busy, we do not cut the big things first. We cut the small ones.
The sleep gets shorter. Just this week, just until the deadline passes. The meals get faster and less considered. The movement stops. The breaks disappear. The things that felt like basics become the things we will get back to later.
They are small individually. They compound into something that cannot be ignored. The body keeps the score even when the diary does not.
Research on the foundations of performance is consistent on this. Sleep deprivation impairs cognitive function at the same level as alcohol intoxication. Poor nutrition affects mood, focus, and decision-making in ways that are measurable and significant. Sedentary behaviour is now classified as an independent risk factor for poor health, regardless of other exercise.
We know all of this.
We still skip the basics first.
Make and Mend is the Navy's institutional answer to that very human tendency.
Build the rest in. Protect it. Do not wait until the kit is falling apart before you give it attention.
And if you want to know all about it, a great read is Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score.
What Make and Mend Looks Like For You
It does not have to be a beach in Mallorca. Though that helps.
It might be one evening a week where the phone goes in another room and the evening belongs to something that restores rather than depletes.
A Saturday morning that is not scheduled for anyone or anything.
A physiotherapy appointment you have been putting off for six months.
Eight hours of sleep on a Tuesday for no reason other than your body needs it.
The what matters less than the intention. Make and Mend is deliberate. It is named. It is in the programme. It is not the thing that gets cancelled when something more important comes along, because nothing is more important than the person who has to do all the other things.
Ask yourself honestly: when did you last have a Make and Mend?
Not a holiday you worked through. Not a weekend where the inbox still had one eye.
An actual afternoon. An actual repair.
Clarity, Courage, Connection
Clarity
Name what needs maintaining. The sleep, the movement, the food, the relationships, the body that is doing all the work. Be honest about which basics have been quietly sliding.
Courage
In a culture that equates rest with laziness and busy with important, taking a Make and Mend takes nerve. It is not earned by doing enough first. It is required in order to keep doing anything at all.
Connection
The best Make and Mend I have ever had involved other people. The ship's company on a beach in Mallorca. Family around a table. A friend who makes you laugh until your sides hurt. Rest is not always solitary and it is rarely selfish.
Looking for More Clarity, Courage and Connection?
If this blog struck a chord, ACSIS Life Coaching offers a calm, supportive space to help you reconnect with what keeps you steady, resilient and more like yourself.
Sam and Lloyd work with people who are carrying stress, pressure or emotional weight and want practical support to move forward with greater clarity, confidence and connection. Sometimes the shift starts with something big. Sometimes it starts with something smaller, a pause, a breath, a different perspective, a little more lightness.
👉 Book a FREE Clarity Session with ACSIS Life Coaching
👉 Visit acsis.co.uk or email contact@acsis.co.uk
How to Recover From Burnout FAQs
What does “Make and Mend” mean in the Royal Navy?
In the Royal Navy, “Make and Mend” is time set aside for repair and recovery. Originally it was used for mending kit and maintaining what sailors needed to function at sea. Over time, it also became a deliberate pause for rest.
Why is rest important in burnout recovery?
Rest is not a luxury. It is part of recovery. When stress runs high for too long, sleep, energy, focus, and mood all suffer. Recovery happens when you build in time to reset before your body and mind are completely depleted.
What do people usually neglect first when life gets busy?
Most people do not drop the big things first. They cut the basics. Sleep gets shorter, meals get rushed, movement stops, breaks disappear, and relationships get less attention. These small losses build up quickly.
What could a personal “Make and Mend” look like in everyday life?
It could be an evening without your phone, a proper night of sleep, a physiotherapy appointment you have been delaying, a slow Saturday morning, or protected time with people who help you feel grounded. The important part is that it is planned and protected.
How do I start a burnout recovery plan without feeling overwhelmed?
Start with one area that needs maintaining most. Sleep, food, movement, rest, or connection. Pick one basic, give it proper time this week, and treat it as essential maintenance rather than something you earn after everything else is done.
Comments