Last week was a roller coaster of sorts, and by Saturday night around 10 pm, I was officially spent. I am fairly indefatigable, and usually build in plenty of time to regroup, so for me to get to that level of exhaustion is rare. If I listed all the things that contributed to my Saturday night running-on-empty-status, you might not believe me. Some incredibly wonderful (a NYC speaking engagement, Father’s Day, my father’s wedding) and some incredibly sad (a long trusted friend and mentor passing away from cancer), plus two cross country flights all added up in seven days.
By Saturday night, I knew I needed going to take Sunday completely and utterly off. Taking the day off is necessary, but we often don’t completely do it – or we fill it with other things that create noise. There would be no deadlines, no errands (unless I wanted to run them), no list creation (unless I wanted to create them)… basically, I would let the day unfold as I wanted it to…
Let me briefly explain how rare a Sunday off is for me. Starting the summer after my freshman year in high school, I worked weekends in retail throughout high school and college. The summer after my junior year in college, I interned at an investment bank (read: no Sundays off). After graduation, I worked at an investment bank before starting Green Ivy (Sundays still not off). At Green Ivy, I typically work Sunday-Thursday during the school year. I also love to write on Sundays, so that’s not always a day off.
And, I have deadlines, projects, and ideas that are coming from every which way. Things I love working on – and want to work on. But, in agreement with the recent WSJ article on how small shifts c
an make big changes in productivity, I took this past Sunday to practice what I preach on taking time to rest, regroup, and relax.
How exactly did I spend the day? For one thing, I slept in – until 7 am. I know, not exactly sleeping in normal, but I am an early riser and typically get up without an alarm clock around 5 am to write. I went to Peet’s for some green tea matcha and made it to my favorite Pilates reformer class at 8 am … followed by a leisurely brunch with the NYT and the dogs at Rose’s Café. I meditated, watched World Cup soccer, and reorganized my purse and desk. I even created several lists of things I wanted to do for the week, bought a few dresses online for an upcoming travel, and just got my life in order. I caught up on the phone with a few friends and wrote a bit to organize my thoughts around a few things. I scanned my email for anything of importance – everyone’s different, but I don’t believe in being completely inaccessible (and I know there are many who do). I realize the idealized version is not always the reality, and we each have our own version of “off.”
I say all this because we all have different ways of regrouping and getting ourselves reenergized. We each have activities we consider energizing, and those we consider draining – recognizing what energizes us is one of the most powerful things we can do. Often, it is the simplest things that make the biggest difference.
What are your simple ways of reenergizing after a long week?
