Are you tired?

After coming home exhausted from a very social weekend, my coach the wonderful Andrea Corney asked me, what do you do to rest?

This got me thinking. I’ve been tracking my energy levels for awhile, since reading Write Every Day.  It started as tracking what time of day I can write, but I realized that what I did was as important as when I did it.

I had always thought you had to do passive things to get your energy renewed. Rest conjures the idea of sleep, of lounging about. But as I tracked when I felt like I could write,  it turned out that some passive activities drained me further, while some active things made me more energetic. Walk and runs, especially in nature, were nearly as good as a nights sleep. Interweaving drawing with writing led to more of both. But hanging out with friends, though fun and good for me, needed to be followed by resting.  I am a social introvert, and need to respect that or I wear out.

So if I wanted to rest after a nonstop weekend, how should I spend my time? I made a chart.  You might want to make one also.

A note on Abnegation. I’ve found there are activities people do so they don’t have to spend time with themselves. Solitaire, TV, Candy Crush. Things that don’t rest you, don’t make you feel better, just make you not feel.  After a long day, it’s tempting to go there, especially with a glass of liquid abnegation.

This is the quadrant to be avoided, IMO.  And yet, it’s always a temptation.

Only you know what lives there.

 

 
“I’m too much with myself, I want to be someone else…”

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  1. 1
    Shane

    Great post and some real insight for me into my own energy ‘givers and drainers’ – I’m creating an energy map now. ..and thanks for the bonus Evan Dando flashback 🙂 …I’m no longer Rudderless.

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