Farmers leave fields empty on purpose so they grow better next year. An empty season can be part of the plan.

Continuous production drains something that only refills when nothing is being taken. A field worked every year without a break yields less and less, not because the farmer did anything wrong but because capacity is finite and restoring it takes time with nothing happening on the surface. People run on similar arithmetic, though nobody schedules it for them.

If you have been going for a long stretch, consider that the flatness might be depletion rather than decline. Build in a period where less is expected, and resist filling it. Recovery is not a pause in the work; it is the part that makes the next year possible.