Leave something in the tank
Have you ever noticed that if you plug your phone in to charge before the battery has run out, it begins charging straight away and is soon ready for use again? Conversely if you drain the battery down, it sits on charge for some time before it even registers as charging? I started to recognise that my own energy works in much the same way when I came across the concept of leaving something in the tank. I cannot remember where I read it, but the suggestion was that we would be wise to finish our day, and our week, with 20% of our energy left in reserve.
It made sense to me to have some margin for the unforeseen, but how often was this excess energy really needed? And besides, I find I am able to dig deep and keep going when I really need to. But I tried it anyway. I turned off my computer at the end of my work day, rather than staying on to feel a bit more on top of things. I did a bit less so that I could stop before I was exhausted, and I discovered something interesting. Much like my phone when I came rest and recharge before my energy was completely drained, it changed the experience of rest. I entered my time off with sufficient energy to do something truly restorative. Yoga, a hobby, quality time with people I love. When I previously arrived at my time off at full velocity. Tired but wired. I was capable of little more than collapsing exhausted in front of the TV with a tub of ice cream. This kind of rest gave me sufficient energy to get up on Monday morning and start the whole process again, but little more. Leaving something in the tank brings a different quality to rest, and truly restorative rest brings and different quality to work.