For many of us, Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer—a long weekend filled with cookouts, time with family and friends, or one last opportunity to enjoy the warmer weather. But behind the holiday is a history rooted in something that remains remarkably relevant today: the relationship between our work and our well-being.
At Insights Psychological Services, we frequently work with people balancing demanding careers, graduate programs, relationships, families, and the many expectations they place on themselves. Labor Day offers an opportunity not only to recognize the contributions of American workers, but also to reflect on the role that work plays in our lives—and why rest, boundaries, connection, and psychological well-being matter.
Labor Day emerged during a period of enormous change in American working life.
During the late 19th century, many Americans worked long hours under difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions. As the labor movement grew, workers increasingly organized to advocate for improved working conditions and greater recognition of their contributions.
The first Labor Day celebration took place in New York City on September 5, 1882. Organized by the Central Labor Union, the event included a parade followed by festivities for workers and their families.
The idea spread quickly. Oregon became the first state to officially recognize Labor Day in 1887, and several other states—including Massachusetts—passed Labor Day legislation that same year.
By 1894, Labor Day had been adopted by many states. On June 28 of that year, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation making the first Monday in September a national holiday.
More than 140 years after that first celebration, Labor Day continues to recognize the social and economic contributions of American workers.
For many Americans today, work looks very different than it did in 1882. Yet questions about workload, security, boundaries, and well-being remain very much alive.
The American Psychological Association’s 2025 Work in America survey found that 54% of U.S. workers said job insecurity had a significant impact on their stress at work.
Workers also place tremendous value on psychological well-being in the workplace. In the same survey, 93% of workers said it was somewhat or very important to work for an organization that values their emotional and psychological well-being and supports employee mental health.
Gallup’s most recent U.S. workplace data similarly found that 50% of American employees reported experiencing a lot of stress during the previous day.
These numbers tell an important story: Work is not something we experience separately from the rest of ourselves.
Stress at work can follow us home. It can affect sleep, relationships, mood, energy, and our ability to be emotionally present with the people around us. Likewise, uncertainty in our personal lives can influence how we experience ourselves at work. If work stress is starting to spill into daily life, our clinicians also support people with anxiety and depression and low mood. You can also read what the signs of professional burnout can look like.
There is also a more personal dimension to our relationship with work.
For many high-achieving students and professionals, being hardworking isn’t simply something they do. It can become an important part of how they understand who they are.
Achievement can bring satisfaction, purpose, confidence, financial stability, and a sense of competence. Work can also provide community, structure, and meaning.
But difficulties can emerge when our sense of worth becomes too closely tied to productivity. That pattern often shows up alongside perfectionism and low self-esteem or self-doubt and imposter syndrome.
We may begin to feel guilty when we aren’t accomplishing something. A quiet weekend can create anxiety rather than relaxation. Taking vacation time may feel irresponsible. A disappointing performance review, difficult semester, career transition, or mistake at work can feel less like something didn’t go well and more like something is wrong with me.
And sometimes, even after accomplishing the thing we worked so hard toward, our minds immediately move the finish line:
What’s next?
Our culture often treats rest as something we earn after everything else has been completed.
The problem, of course, is that everything is rarely completed.
There is always another email to answer, another assignment to finish, another client to see, another project to begin, or another goal to pursue.
Rest doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing. It might mean spending time with people we care about, taking a walk, exercising, reading something purely for enjoyment, enjoying a meal without multitasking, engaging in a hobby, or simply having a few hours in which we aren’t measuring ourselves by what we’ve accomplished.
For some people, learning to rest can actually be uncomfortable. Slowing down leaves more room for thoughts and feelings that busyness may help us avoid. Understanding that discomfort can be an important part of developing a healthier relationship with both work and ourselves. Talk therapy and psychodynamic therapy can be useful places to explore that relationship.
Labor Day was created to recognize the contributions of workers.
Perhaps it can also remind us that a person’s value extends beyond the work they produce.
Consider asking yourself:
There is nothing wrong with being ambitious, driven, or deeply invested in your work. Meaningful work can be an enormously rewarding part of life. The goal doesn’t have to be caring less about your career or accomplishments.
Sometimes the goal is creating enough space for the other parts of yourself, too.
This Labor Day, all of us at Insights Psychological Services wish you an opportunity to recognize what you’ve accomplished, connect with the people and experiences that matter to you, and perhaps give yourself permission to rest.
Happy Labor Day from the Insights Psychological Services team.
Insights Psychological Services provides telehealth psychotherapy for adults and couples throughout Massachusetts. Our clinicians work with concerns including anxiety, depression, stress, burnout, perfectionism, ADHD, relationship concerns, life transitions, and more.
About the Author
Ashley O'Hearn, PsyD
