The Magic of 24 Hours
Two weeks ago, I had a really full week. Like, REALLY full. Thanks to my choice to lead a 3-day mid-week course (8 hours each day with both pre- and post-class time) plus a holiday and fitting in a client or two in the spaces between, by Friday I was rather depleted. Depleted as in well-used, which is a good feeling really; and depleted I was, nonetheless.
Here's the thing that happens for me when I'm depleted: I lose the capacity to be open-hearted and reasonable. I know I'm not alone in this; but knowing that I'm not alone doesn't make it any easier for me to accept. I like to think of myself as both open-hearted and reasonable at my core. The feeling of being depleted shuts these core aspects of me down, whether I like it or not. In this less-than-open-hearted-or-reasonable space, my capacity to be objective and rational also seems to shut down. Essentially, I just become ornery.
Ornery isn't becoming on anyone.
For me, ornery makes me defensive.
It has me be irrational. Mostly reactive, as opposed to objective.
There's a lot of eye-rolling when I'm ornery. And a lot of sighing.
Sometimes, when I'm depleted, my less-than-kind inside thoughts make their way outside.
All of this means that I have to be ever-mindful of how I'm showing up when I'm depleted, and given that I'm depleted, this is hard to do. Hard, but not impossible. And the trick I use to help me out is this: I use the magic of 24 hours.
24 hours is the gift I give myself whenever I am depleted. And you can throw an "at least" in front of that -- as in "at least" 24 hours.
At least 24 hours to:
refrain from responding to questions, requests, and invitations
do anything BUT work
rest in whatever way I need to rest (could be a nap or two, could be reading, could be creating or otherwise using a part of me that hasn't been used for a bit)
just decompress
It's not as easy to do this as one might think. I have to consciously choose it. I have to mindfully step away from the things that have depleted me, and remind myself that -- barring some very rare exceptions -- nothing needs to be tended to right now; things can wait.
When I do this -- when I step away, step back, retreat for a bit and give myself a reprieve -- even things that seem overwhelming or impossible grow less daunting and actually possible. All of a sudden, I can respond to the requests, questions and invitations with grace. I can answer people calmly. I can see possibilities that were invisible previously.
Now, here's the thing: I don't have to wait until I'm actually depleted to lean into this 24 hour structure. I can implement this strategy anytime. I can manage expectations in such a way that folks around me -- including myself -- learn to give me time and space for responses. There's a way that I can stop running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and slow the heck down.
Bottom-line: the magic of 24 hours is really about giving yourself permission to care for yourself and to take time for yourself. Taking time in this way ensures that you bring your best self forward, more often than not. The next time you feel like you're responding to things from a less than optimal place, or the next time you feel depleted, I invite you to invoke the magic of 24 hours. You'll be glad you did.