Refuel or Die
Fatigue isn’t overwork; it’s failure to refuel.
You go dry when you pour out more than you pour in. No one flourishes on empty.
Energy flows out naturally; it’s restored intentionally. Intervention solves energy depletion. Create a refueling schedule.
Life management is energy management.
Refuel before your tank is empty:
Your energy-tank is your responsibility. Don’t expect others to fill it for you.
A sample replenishing schedule…
9:00 a.m. – Pick up the phone and call someone to say thank you or tell them you appreciate them.
11:00 a.m. – Assess your morning. What have you completed? Give yourself an atah girl/boy.
2:30 p.m. – get up from your desk and take a short walk about. Hold your head up and breathe deeply. Try strolling rather than walking to get somewhere.
4:30 p.m. – record something you’re glad you did today.
End of day – send a thank you email to a colleague, boss, or employee. Leave a note to yourself that reads something like, “You did your best yesterday. What can you do today that will make you proud?”
Schedule refueling times into your day, even if you aren’t exhausted. Keep your energy-tank closer to full than empty.
7 Ways to Refuel:
- Turn off the lights. Close your eyes and breathe until your heart rate and breathing slows.
- Become a sprinter. Push yourself in short bursts, then refuel.
- Shift your attitude from “have to” to “get to”.
- Use positive language exclusively for an hour.
- Avoid energy vampires as much as you can. Hang with people who fuel your energy tank.
- Pretend less. Doesn’t it feel energizing to go home and stop pretending?
- Start that project that’s hanging over your head.
Self-evaluation: Evaluate yourself by how well you energize others.
What are the symptoms of an empty energy-tank?
If you created a refueling schedule, what might it look like?
Still curious:
20 Ways to Increase Personal Energy
How to Manage Energy: 4 Out Of 10 Are Drained At Work
Give yourself time to practice self-reflection. Purchase The Vagrant to learn about structured self-refection.
Thanks for great reminder Dan. I’ve been following your blog for a few years now. So many valuable insights, not only for work, but for also for leading at home and raising kids.
Thanks for being a long-term follower. It’s a privilege to be part of your journey. It’s so true. Leadership principles apply to all of life. In many cases, life principles apply to leadership.
I wish you well
Hi Dan,
This is a huge topic with many implications in life. If we are consistently running on E at the end of every day, we are drowning ourselves to the point of misery, it is unavoidable. When I read this post, I also think of refueling relationships. For example, if I am always going and going, I am not refueling my relationship with my spouse or kids or whoever. It’s my responsibility to ensure I am doing that. Thanks for the post!
Thanks, Ken. I appreciate you bringing relationships into the mix. Be the person who energizes family and friends. What could be bad about that? 🙂 Cheers
Thanks Dan for this piece, it’s timely.
My pleasure, Mayokun.
All excellent points! Good reminders I will take into account throughout my day. Thank you!
Thanks for stopping in, today, Laura. Cheers
This is great if you are healthy, but for those of us with long term health issues this leads to feelings of inadequacy and failure. It is physically impossible for someone with long term health issues, pain and fatigue, sleep disturbances and other struggles to control their energy levels like this. I wish we could. And whilst having a generally optimistic outlook is helpful, when you have legitimate challenges being told to be more positive easily turns into idea’s like “think yourself well” and actually turn’s into toxic positivity. Idea’s like this must be balanced against reality if we want a more inclusive workplace that allows more chronically ill and disabled people to work effectively despite their extra challenges.