Did you get an extra day off this week? Are you looking forward to summer hours?

Are you in need of deeper rest?

One thing I know to be true as I support change agents in transforming their leadership is that, taking the “day off” doesn’t guarantee you will feel better when you return.

Here are a few things I know about rest to support your wellbeing and improved leadership:

1. It helps to know the source of your exhaustion.

Are you MENTALLY, EMOTIONALLY, or PHYSICALLY exhausted?

Developing the awareness to distinguish the difference will help you rejuvenate in a meaningful way.

For example, if unresolved office drama has you over thinking your actions, questioning the action of others, and worrying about your place at the organization you will be exhausted at the end of the day. It’s emotional exhaustion.

You may think you don’t have any energy to workout or pick up your creative hobby. But those could be the exact things you need to replenish yourself and gain a fresh perspective on your situation.

Determining HOW mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion each feel in your body can help you fill your cup in a meaningful way.

Paddling up the river on Memorial Day with my boys I allowed myself to simply pause and let them lead the way.

2. Create the personal psychological safety to consciously pause for a time vs. waiting till you are forced to stop.

There will ALWAYS be more to do. The hustle culture that tells us to “sleep when you’re dead” is actually killing people and their careers.

I know it can feel uncomfortable to take time to rest when your nervous system has been trained to go, go, go. But I’ve spoken with enough individuals who have been forced to take personal leave, quit their job, or ended up in the hospital due to mental and physical injury from work stress. It’s not worth it.

I know they would all like to tell you to work through the discomfort of learning how to rest before your life is completely disrupted by being forced to.

Developing the mental ability to pause, care for our wellbeing, and trust that the world will not collapse while we sleep will create a more sustainable career with longevity.

3. Rest is an essential practice.

You are not a machine. You are a beautiful whole person whose brain and body require rest in order to reach peak performance.

Here are a few tips for developing the habits and practices to support rest.

• Track your sleep. Are you getting enough? Studies are showing that woman may actually need more than the avg. 8 hours especially during certain times of the month. Can you accept that you may need more sleep without shaming yourself?
• Improve your sleep hygiene. Ditch the phone, take time to stretch, enjoy your evening routine for a better night’s rest.
• Allowing your mind to rest by focusing on your breath for 60 seconds between meetings.
• Put your phone down while waiting in line. Notice and smile at the people around you to lower your anxiety and stress levels.
• Name and acknowledge the various emotions you are feeling.
• Express gratitude for all that you accomplished instead of focusing on all that is left to do.
• … What would you add? What do you want to incorporate today?

Just because rest and rejuvenation may feel elusive at times, there are tangible ways to move towards a more rested, empowered, rejuvenated way of being a leader in the social sector.

I’m cheering you on and inviting you to invest in rest because when you feel better, you lead better.

“

Whenever this situation happens at work, I immediately feel myself get irritated and frustrated. I shut down conversation and dread that this is never going to change. … Oh my gosh, I never thought of it that way!!

— Client Discovering new ways of approaching chronic issues at work during our coaching session.