An interesting observation as we return from the holidays has been that almost every one of our leaders hopes we are “recharged”. Consciously or not, they are using the same language and metaphor of the battery that you use. To my mind, they are being simplistic in thinking that the very act of taking a break from work should recharge us. Where they should be focused now is on how they can support their teams to maintain “full charge” across the next 12 months. Their hope that we are recharged by a holiday is a tacit admission that work and life is inevitably draining. As you know, it need not be so.
I completely agree. Leaders should prioritise creating environments that recharge people weekly, rather than relying on the year-end holiday as a fix. What you do during the break is crucial, but even more important is ensuring the day-to-day work environment doesn’t drain people to the point where they desperately need to recharge.
Hope you got plenty of snogging done over the break!
I don't think it's possible to maintain charge, but agree that companies need to do more to help their employees maintain a balance. This includes things like flexible working options on terms of both hours and office/WFH.
It's interesting that after having a couple of years of less travel for meetings, work places have added the travel again rather than having a thinking about what meetings can be done online and which ones are best face to face. Nothing beats face to face interaction, but if it comes at the cost of a persons energy or time from their family then is it really worth it?
Totally agree it’s unrealistic to maintain 100% energy throughout the year, and if someone did, it likely means they weren’t pushing themselves or achieving much. So while being fully charged at all times isn’t feasible, workplaces should aim to ensure staff never drop below 60–70% to maintain productivity and well-being. Plus have systems to catch staff when they drop below 50%.
Having come from a job that was sucking all my energy, I think having a job that aligns with your values is important.
I know that sometimes I will work over time, but if the work is what you truly love, you don't mind the odd late finish. But when it turns into consistently working overtime, then it'll take energy away from your home/leisure space.
I agree that wellbeing is being viewed too black and white. You're either well or you're not. As opposed to a continuum which you move up and down depending on what's happening in your life.
What annoys me about the wellness/mental health info out there, is that it focuses on the lower ends of the continuum has something that needs to be fixed. Sometimes it does, but sometimes being in the lower end means other parts of your life need to be addressed. It calls for reflection, why am I in this space. Is the change I need to make a simple one or is it more in-depth such as leaving a job or a relationship.
Like when I went to the GP to review my mental health plan and I scored low on the DASS and she asked me why I need more visits if I'm scoring okay. I told her that, there is lots of unfinished work to be done with my psych and that the sessions are helping me to maintain my current state and not requite medication.
Couldn’t agree more that the medical model often misses the mark, treating well-being as a binary rather than a continuum. Low energy doesn’t always mean something needs fixing. It often it just calls for reflection on deeper issues like work or relationships.
But leaving a draining situation (like a bad relationship or toxic work environment) is hard, especially with the uncertainty it brings (as we discussed today) and the last thing someone with low energy wants to face. I think this is why many people stay in bad relationships/jobs.
it's a vicious cycle. Need energy to walk away from the very thing that's sucking it all.
Change is hard, uncertainty is hard, not knowing that everything will work out is hard. Trusting yourself is huge here. This is when supportive networks come into play too.
Everyone I spoke to about how much I disliked my job were supportive and echoed my thoughts of, you need to get out of there. Not one person questioned it or pushed me to force myself to stay in it for the sake of having a job. I am incredibly grateful for that.
Thank you, Ben, for your valuable "Wake Up Calls", always appreciated.
To me it is a combination of little things
1) Start the day with what is one thing I am grateful for today
2) Do something different every day, and you're not scared of change
3) Your worst day is someone else's best day
4) Eat the live frog first
5) Don't major in minor things
6) When you review the day you planned, don't beat yourself up for what you did not achieve, there is always tomorrow and check the things that you done, that were not on the list
I recently saw this on Threads and thought that it has a loose definition of wellbeing. I also thought it was great that some companies acknowledge the need for energy and offered training in managing it. Piggy backing on David's comment, a 2 week break every now and then really isn't contributing that much to your energy levels at work if you're on the road to burn out every time you come back. https://www.threads.net/@carnage4life/post/DEu6SR0PVzA?xmt=AQGzwHhU7Se0w9phYytVNBp_dv-hJX1uc3OLNYg-vFSXsw
"A valuable training I took at Microsoft when I became a senior manager introduced me to managing your energy.
Early in your career, time management is a critical skill. However as you get more senior there is eventually more work than you can ever fit into the time.
More important is managing your energy. Your physical energy with rest, nutrition and exercise. Your intellectual energy with interesting problems. Your spiritual energy with a mission. And your emotional energy to prevent burnout."
Bloody well said! Especially the last bit. Thanks for the share mate and one can only hope employers start looking beyond "leave" as the only way to recharge their teams.
This made me think about the original medical/biological definition of "disease". What do we mean by disease? Very simply it meant, back in the day, any state in which you feel ill at ease. Quite simple but broad ranging. So disease covers everything from mental to physical health and almost any degree of severity there in. Thus the opposite of disease is ease. i.e. a feeling of comfort, free from pain etc. You don't have to feel like an olympic athlete or someone about to climb everest or a euphoric feeling seeing your favourite band live or whatever. You just need to be at ease. Some sort of neutral state or equilibrium, neither good nor bad. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Equilibrium itself is an important scientific concept. Being totally euphoric for long periods is as dangerous as being depressed in the long run. The body and mind are not made to exist in extremes for log periods of time.
So for me well being probably encompasses all those things you do than can contribute to long term equilibrium of your mental and physical states.
Well said, particularly about being on a high for long periods of time. What goes up must come down.
It's kind of similar but my grandpa use to say "health isn't merely the absence of illness". He lived to 93 and was fit and healthy right up to the last die.
An interesting observation as we return from the holidays has been that almost every one of our leaders hopes we are “recharged”. Consciously or not, they are using the same language and metaphor of the battery that you use. To my mind, they are being simplistic in thinking that the very act of taking a break from work should recharge us. Where they should be focused now is on how they can support their teams to maintain “full charge” across the next 12 months. Their hope that we are recharged by a holiday is a tacit admission that work and life is inevitably draining. As you know, it need not be so.
I completely agree. Leaders should prioritise creating environments that recharge people weekly, rather than relying on the year-end holiday as a fix. What you do during the break is crucial, but even more important is ensuring the day-to-day work environment doesn’t drain people to the point where they desperately need to recharge.
Hope you got plenty of snogging done over the break!
I don't think it's possible to maintain charge, but agree that companies need to do more to help their employees maintain a balance. This includes things like flexible working options on terms of both hours and office/WFH.
It's interesting that after having a couple of years of less travel for meetings, work places have added the travel again rather than having a thinking about what meetings can be done online and which ones are best face to face. Nothing beats face to face interaction, but if it comes at the cost of a persons energy or time from their family then is it really worth it?
Totally agree it’s unrealistic to maintain 100% energy throughout the year, and if someone did, it likely means they weren’t pushing themselves or achieving much. So while being fully charged at all times isn’t feasible, workplaces should aim to ensure staff never drop below 60–70% to maintain productivity and well-being. Plus have systems to catch staff when they drop below 50%.
yes i agree, strategies to help people get back above the red line would be helpful.
I think education on helping people to recognise when they are running on empty may also help.
Society still rewards people for burning the candle at both ends with praise "you're amazing for juggling everything that you do."
Doing less needs to be normalised. Resting needs to be seen as productive as opposed to being lazy.
Having come from a job that was sucking all my energy, I think having a job that aligns with your values is important.
I know that sometimes I will work over time, but if the work is what you truly love, you don't mind the odd late finish. But when it turns into consistently working overtime, then it'll take energy away from your home/leisure space.
I agree that wellbeing is being viewed too black and white. You're either well or you're not. As opposed to a continuum which you move up and down depending on what's happening in your life.
What annoys me about the wellness/mental health info out there, is that it focuses on the lower ends of the continuum has something that needs to be fixed. Sometimes it does, but sometimes being in the lower end means other parts of your life need to be addressed. It calls for reflection, why am I in this space. Is the change I need to make a simple one or is it more in-depth such as leaving a job or a relationship.
Like when I went to the GP to review my mental health plan and I scored low on the DASS and she asked me why I need more visits if I'm scoring okay. I told her that, there is lots of unfinished work to be done with my psych and that the sessions are helping me to maintain my current state and not requite medication.
The medical model sucks.
Couldn’t agree more that the medical model often misses the mark, treating well-being as a binary rather than a continuum. Low energy doesn’t always mean something needs fixing. It often it just calls for reflection on deeper issues like work or relationships.
But leaving a draining situation (like a bad relationship or toxic work environment) is hard, especially with the uncertainty it brings (as we discussed today) and the last thing someone with low energy wants to face. I think this is why many people stay in bad relationships/jobs.
it's a vicious cycle. Need energy to walk away from the very thing that's sucking it all.
Change is hard, uncertainty is hard, not knowing that everything will work out is hard. Trusting yourself is huge here. This is when supportive networks come into play too.
Everyone I spoke to about how much I disliked my job were supportive and echoed my thoughts of, you need to get out of there. Not one person questioned it or pushed me to force myself to stay in it for the sake of having a job. I am incredibly grateful for that.
Thank you, Ben, for your valuable "Wake Up Calls", always appreciated.
To me it is a combination of little things
1) Start the day with what is one thing I am grateful for today
2) Do something different every day, and you're not scared of change
3) Your worst day is someone else's best day
4) Eat the live frog first
5) Don't major in minor things
6) When you review the day you planned, don't beat yourself up for what you did not achieve, there is always tomorrow and check the things that you done, that were not on the list
Once again, many thanks
Respectfully Yours
Mick B
Great list. Love point 5. Similar to "say no to the good so you can say yes to the great"
What does point 4 mean?
The worst task of the day do first…. Then the rest of the day is a breeze 🥳
I recently saw this on Threads and thought that it has a loose definition of wellbeing. I also thought it was great that some companies acknowledge the need for energy and offered training in managing it. Piggy backing on David's comment, a 2 week break every now and then really isn't contributing that much to your energy levels at work if you're on the road to burn out every time you come back. https://www.threads.net/@carnage4life/post/DEu6SR0PVzA?xmt=AQGzwHhU7Se0w9phYytVNBp_dv-hJX1uc3OLNYg-vFSXsw
"A valuable training I took at Microsoft when I became a senior manager introduced me to managing your energy.
Early in your career, time management is a critical skill. However as you get more senior there is eventually more work than you can ever fit into the time.
More important is managing your energy. Your physical energy with rest, nutrition and exercise. Your intellectual energy with interesting problems. Your spiritual energy with a mission. And your emotional energy to prevent burnout."
Bloody well said! Especially the last bit. Thanks for the share mate and one can only hope employers start looking beyond "leave" as the only way to recharge their teams.
This made me think about the original medical/biological definition of "disease". What do we mean by disease? Very simply it meant, back in the day, any state in which you feel ill at ease. Quite simple but broad ranging. So disease covers everything from mental to physical health and almost any degree of severity there in. Thus the opposite of disease is ease. i.e. a feeling of comfort, free from pain etc. You don't have to feel like an olympic athlete or someone about to climb everest or a euphoric feeling seeing your favourite band live or whatever. You just need to be at ease. Some sort of neutral state or equilibrium, neither good nor bad. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Equilibrium itself is an important scientific concept. Being totally euphoric for long periods is as dangerous as being depressed in the long run. The body and mind are not made to exist in extremes for log periods of time.
So for me well being probably encompasses all those things you do than can contribute to long term equilibrium of your mental and physical states.
Well said, particularly about being on a high for long periods of time. What goes up must come down.
It's kind of similar but my grandpa use to say "health isn't merely the absence of illness". He lived to 93 and was fit and healthy right up to the last die.