I am someone who has a hard time turning off. Whether it’s because of the systems that reinforce this, the demands that those systems create and enable or the Productivity = Value equation we have all been conditioned to believe. Or whether it’s pure inspiration and excitement. Whatever the reason, my operating system tends to default to firing on all cylinders.
Many of the people I work with have similar wiring.
No matter where it’s coming from, this tendency has the potential to be problematic. Whether from a health, stress or burnout perspective, or even from a holistic living and fulfillment perspective, I believe we benefit from turning off and recharging. Even when it feels counterintuitive. (Which, to me, it often does.)
And, some days, I have had to trick myself into this. I know the results. I’ve seen the clear evidence that it’s truly for the best. And, still, I have a very hard time drawing the boundary or stopping the wheels from turning and over-revving. (Ask me about the timeshare experience…)
This tension has led me to dedicate a lot of time, energy, study and contemplation to this topic. And I have a few takeaways.
The Other Equations
While the Productivity = Value equation seems to dominate the zeitgeist, there are other equations. For example, how we compute productivity and value in their own right.
As a society, we seem to have largely accepted and normalized this idea that we always have to be striving and hustling and producing. Meaning the things that make the human experience such a gift get downgraded and, often, squeezed out. We miss the miracle all the time. Meanwhile, the truth is that rest, inspiration, joy and all the other things in the “gift” bucket are big parts of the Productivity equation, not to mention the Life Satisfaction equation (which has to be part of the Value equation if we really think about it).
So, I ask myself regularly: What’s the most important thing? If I were to die tomorrow, how would I have wanted to have lived today? And I think that question is worth exploring – both in the radical: What if I had no responsibilities and no fear, what would I do? – and also the more practical: Am I living it right?.
Because, we don’t know that we get to live it all the way to the achievement of the goal. To our someday Some Day. Or to see whatever we’ve categorized in our minds as “old age.” So, if that is all we have and we are just white knuckling our way there in misery or somewhere on that spectrum, it’s worth a double click to explore: Am I moving towards the goal or vision in a way that is also fulfilling in the now? How can I hold both the real hard work that many of these big dreams require and the miracle of each day I’m given on this earth?
There are, of course, practical realities we all must contend with. I don’t want to ignore or downplay those at all. And, if that is all we make room for, that is all we get.
But, is that all we want?
No matter what those realities are for each of us, we all get to choose how we meet them. I choose to meet them with a fierce commitment to the belief that more is possible. Not “more” in our consumeristic material world sense. “More” in the soulful, deeply meaningful sense. And through the prism of that belief, I will keep turning and tweaking until the full rainbow appears. Looking through the lens of where I have agency (which itself equals power and possibility). And, to do that well, I find I need the space to rest and renew. Recharge and reinspire.
Dedicated Commitment to Strategic Renewal
Enter: The “Dedicated Commitment to Strategic Renewal.” Time intentionally carved out specifically for this. Ideally, once or more a day.
Even if all you want is output and maximum productivity (even “more” materially), I posit that intentional and consistent rest and renewal is essential to create that. Certainly when we look over any stretch of time.
However, most of the people who find my work also long for something more, as I do. We are here for the miracle. We want to live this life as a gift. Even while it is hard and imperfect. And the way our modern life tends to set things up, some days that can feel impossible. But it’s not impossible.
That said, it does take work. It goes against most of our conditioned beliefs and the way society tends to run. At least on the treadmill that we’re used to.
That treadmill, though, by its very makeup goes nowhere. As does relentlessly hustling and grinding, burning the candle at both ends, and expecting that to change the impossible equation we’re up against in this construct.
We’ve all been there. Trying to get through our packed calendar and overflowing to-do list and be all the things to all the people. We know it’s too much and we know it’s not sustainable but we also know sh*t needs to get done and the demands aren’t going away.
The obvious answer seems to be that we power through. Of course we power through! Just get through the lists. Do all the things. And then we can restore (or, in most cases, claim for the first time) balance in our lives. Rest. Recharge. Dream. Sparkle.
Except, in my experience, it doesn’t usually go quite like that…
First of all, the list is infinite. And, often, like a hydra. You knock off one task and two (or six) emerge in its place. The calendar, like quicksand. You try to move a meeting and something else sucks you in deeper in its place. There is no done.
Second of all, power through quickly devolves into power-less. Both figuratively and literally. The sense of control when we started battling through our shoulds and to-do’s wanes quite a bit as the epic battle goes on over endless days and weeks (months…years…). As does our energy. Health. Well-being.
Have you ever pushed and pushed to get everything done by a big holiday or vacation (which served as the light at the end of a very long tunnel) only to find yourself sick as a dog (or even just completely exhausted or juggling a migraine) and unable to enjoy or participate in the thing you’d been holding out for? Me too. We wear down our immune systems when we burn the candle at both ends and it will necessarily catch up to us eventually. Unfortunately, usually on our time.
Third, epic battle mode is very much fight or flight energy. Which is not where we do our best thinking. We are in survival mode, which necessarily has shortsighted thinking attached to it. The sole focus is survival. Biologically, we are wired to limit our focus to the immediate threat and we literally lose the big picture. So, we’re trying our hardest, pushing past reasonable limits to try to do a great job and we’re inadvertently creating conditions where we are not actually able to give our best because we are pushing so hard.
In my experience, we are far more “productive,” not to mention holistically fulfilled, when we build rest and renewal into the flow. Versus holding our breath until we get to the finish line. We need to breathe all the way through.
This idea is not new. But, it is quite r/evolutionary when we look at the status quo in our work culture today. Which means it’s not going to magically happen on its own. We must exert our agency.
But, How?
I tend to find that if I don’t have something in my calendar, it may well not get done (though, I’m getting better at this by following the natural flow of my energy and focus – more on this another time…). Particularly when in an environment where other people can add things to our calendars without pre-alignment. We need to be proactive. We may end up needing to shift things around as things come up. (We often do.) But, a calendar is a great place to carve out time and set intentions for the things that are most important in our weeks.
And, I believe, that should absolutely include our “Dedicated Commitment to Strategic Renewal.” (I’m giving this one should a pass because I believe it is so important.)
Look, I recognize that it’s hard to leave space in our days. And, it’s even harder when we look at space as an absence. Like when someone asks if you have plans this weekend and you were looking forward to doing nothing. What do you say? For me, I’ve found it really helpful to reframe space as something affirmative. Double click and look at what I am actually planning on investing in with that time. And, then, put that on the calendar.
Surprise: It’s almost never literally nothing.
For example, when I block out my mornings and my evenings so my thoughts can settle and I have space for the people and things I love and for the rest I know I need, it’s not nothing. I’m literally making a dedicated commitment to practices I know keep my cup full. And I know I’m at my best with my cup full. That’s why this renewal is strategic. I am crafting my time and my energy in such a way to get the most out of it.
When I am consistent about this, these are the windows when my best ideas and creative solutions flow. Naturally. My nervous system is calm and nourished and my highest thinking is available. I’m better – at work, at life, at everything.
I also found, particularly in corporate life, it was easier to convince myself that it was something credible and valuable if I used big, jargony, corporate-sounding words for it. Hence the name, “Dedicated Commitment to Strategic Renewal.” Bonus points, of course, for an acronym. So, let’s call it “DCSR.” “Rest” just doesn’t have the same heft…
And, frankly, that’s exactly what it is: a structured, intentional investment in the energy, clarity and inspiration I need to do my best work and live my fullest life.
Recently, I caught up with a friend who noted how needed the work I’m doing with Some Days is in today’s “every day, all day” hustle culture. I shared that I love the rebellious feeling of pushing back on that. Daring to be vulnerable and believe in the big dreams and possibility. And supporting others in doing the same.
This quiet r/evolution is something available to all of us. Rather than using our creative problem solving to figure out how to keep burning the candle at both ends, we can shift and use it to figure out how to carve out space for our Dedicated Commitment to Strategic Renewal.
So, I encourage you to check-in: Are you making intentional space for rest and renewal? What does your version of “strategic” rest and renewal look like? What might be possible if you made space for it – on purpose?
And, then, whenever you hear someone mention KPIs or OKRs (or, frankly, any acronym), be sure to ask yourself: How are my DCSR KPIs coming?