Recharge Your Resilience

How we show up next year will depend in large part on how we close this one. Resilience is about one part mindset, one part recharging, and one part planning. And it’s often the planning bit that gets overlooked.

Most of us at this point are looking forward to some much needed downtime. A chance to unplug, to breathe and just relax. Visions of sitting by the beach (or pool) with a good book in one hand, and a cool drink in the other is what’s fuelling our last burst of energy towards the finish line.

Use this time to catch up on reading but there’s much more you can do to get into the right mindset with batteries fully charged when you head back to work.

Declutter 

A habit of ruthlessly purging stuff is worth doing on a regular basis. It will quite literally transform your life. If you don’t believe me, read Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and the thousands of testimonials that have made it into a #1 New York Times bestseller.

If you can’t handle your whole home, at least declutter your work area before you log off for the last time. Purging stacks of project files and unread articles will not only improve your focus when you return; it’ll also help you start the year feeling lighter and more in control. Who doesn’t love a fresh, clean slate?

End on a good note

Finish on a win, even if it’s a small one. It could be a team meeting celebrating ‘highs’ of the past year, or that email you’ve been meaning to send. Ending on an achievement, even a small one, will have you walking out the door feeling good about the year, and positive about the next.

Feed your brain

In addition to that great fiction you can’t wait to pick up, read (or watch) something that will boost your learning for the year ahead. Pick your top 3 TEDTalks or business books, and enjoy them with pen and paper in hand. Make notes on what you’ve learned and how you’ll apply that going forward.

Plan your first week back, now

It may seem premature but think about it. Everyone will have their own agenda and will be clamouring for your attention. Fires will need urgent attention and then there’s that massive pile of stuff you didn’t manage to finish before you left.

So that you’re not immediately sucked back into minutiae, decide now on the ‘big’ stuff that you’ll focus on in those first few weeks. Block out time in your calendar and do it now before it gets clogged up with meeting requests again.

Hit some early wins out of the park by doing a little planning and prep now. A small investment in time now will put you in the right mindset and strengthen your resilience before the floodgates open again.