When Rest Isn’t an Option

I was ten years into my career before I felt like I had permission to ease off the gas. My coach at the time pointed out that we cannot give 100% all the time. “We aren’t robots,” she told me.

I’m pretty sure I looked at her like a deer in headlights. It may sound silly, but that statement was revelatory for me.

We may not be robots, but think about how often we hold ourselves and our teams to that standard! It feels like the only choice in the face of our ever-growing task list.

Clearly, rest and vacation time are absolutely important in our fast-paced and demanding lives. I am your biggest advocate when it comes to taking time away and resting to be able to show up with all of your potential.

There are times when rest and slowing down isn’t realistic, though. When that’s the case, rejuvenation offers another path.

To rejuvenate is to give new life to something. It literally means “to make young again.”

As I see it, the key distinction from rest is that rejuvenation is action-oriented. It’s about engaging rather than disengaging.

One way to think about this is like a rechargeable battery. Rejuvenation is like plugging into the fast charger to get fuel to go the distance.

Rolling with the battery analogy just a moment longer, the one tricky thing is that every person has a uniquely-shaped plug, and it might take a bit of exploration to identify what clicks.

Rejuvenation is unique to every person. In fact, it can even be different from situation to situation for the same person.

To help you figure out what shape rejuvenation takes for you, consider the six energy influencers, or six categories of factors that affect your energy and engagement – spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, social, and environmental.

Spiritual

Spiritual Influencers involve your purpose, beliefs, values, desires, goals, your gifts, and similar.

While the word, “spiritual,” might sound similar to religion, it’s used much more broadly here. (Religion may or may not be a factor for you here.) It’s all about the degree of alignment between WHO you are at your core, HOW you do things, and WHAT you’re doing.

Mental

Mental Influencers relate to your ability to be alert, focused, and clear so you can make decisions, access creativity, and take action.

Isn’t this one tricky in our workplaces? We’re getting Teams or Slack messages by the minute, going from meeting to meeting with action items added on during each. Constant task switching and interruptions make it challenging to get traction with any one thing. Setting up your calendar, notifications, planning tools, etc. to help you be more fully present with what’s in front of you can give you an incredible boost.

Emotional

Emotional Influencers are things of or related to emotions, along with your moods and feelings. The way you think about, express, and manage emotions in yourself and others impacts your energy.

From my observations and personal experience, it’s easy to get caught in a trap of believing that our emotions happen to us. While every emotion is valid and valuable, it’s also important to remember they are signals and tools for our consciousness. They help protect us at the most primal level, but they also help us understand what’s important to us, when we feel insecure within social groups, and when we are out of alignment with who we want to be. When taken this way, we can access the intelligence of emotions and choose how to experience them.

Physical

Physical Influencers are anything related to things that allow your body to move and work in the way you’d like it to, as well as awareness of what your body is telling you.

Besides tiredness, we don’t often make a direct connection between physical wellbeing and success at work. Other physical influencers are about the literal fuel and mechanics to keep our bodies and minds working for us and our goals instead of breaking down. Feeding our bodies healthful food, staying hydrated, and moving our bodies often are great places to start if we just have capacity to do one thing.

Social

Social Influencers include finding your sweet spot with regards to interactions with others (amount, type, style), and the exchange of communication, support, and accountability with others around you.

Because this category inherently includes other people, we have less control here. It can be incredibly draining to work around people who criticize, complain or gossip. It’s tempting to label them as “the problem” and expect to suffer forever. However, it’s possible to shift the dynamic by changing your behaviors, or even by changing how you think about the relationship or the other person. Further, you can direct your energy instead to building up a network of supporters, allies, and champions.

Environmental

Environmental Influencers are the tools, settings, and surroundings that you believe will affect your completion or enjoyment of the task(s) ahead of you.

Much like the social category, environmental influences are not always in your control. Real leaders recognize that they have the power to control the effect environmental influences have on them.

Now you understand the six types of energy influencers that can help you access rejuvenation.

I would be remiss if I didn’t provide an acronym to help remember these categories, though. It’s anticlimactic. I call it SMEPSE. (pronounced “smepsee”) Please get in touch if you come up with a better one…

If you scoff at the outlook for sipping an umbrella drink on the beach, perhaps seeking revitalization over rest is a more realistic approach right now. Identify the area that you believe will give you the biggest burst of new life (or just the most accessible one), and give it a try!

I’ve shared below one idea for each category.

Spiritual: Look for a way to connect your core values to the tasks and goals ahead of you. By focusing in on living your values through your tasks and projects, you can get in touch with a sense of purpose or alignment that makes your work feel meaningful.

Mental: Identify priorities, decision points, and action plans for the next quarter. It may be helpful to arrange a brief meeting with your manager and/or team members for guidance or confirmation. Clarity reduces anxiety and increases confidence, therefore removing some of the friction for action. Action and progress are energizing.

Emotional: Think of something that is causing you stress or anxiety at the moment. Journal or jot down some of the thoughts, assumptions, and projections you’re spinning around in your head about it. Then, note the objective facts of the situation. This ‘“fact check,” of sorts, can help calm those anxious or stressed-out emotions and give you back some of the mental space they were taking up.

Physical: Take a moment to pause and close your eyes. Focus on taking a slow, deep breath and try to make your exhale longer than your inhale. It's easy to forget the importance of our breath since it's automatic, but it can greatly impact our energy and overall well-being.

Social: Turn to the cheerleader or hype person in your life who can shine a light on your gifts. It’s a bonus if it’s work-related, but there’s no shame in getting this from your mom, or even interpreting your cat’s purrs as ego-boosting praise.

Environmental: In the spirit of back-to-school season, buy yourself a fun new pen, notebook, or other office item. It will give you a little dose of joy each time you use it in the course of your day.

This piece contains my interpretation of the copyrighted work of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC).