Re-Energize When Work (and Life) Gets you Down
I was in a funk recently that I finally managed to get out of. During that unfortunate period which lasted about a month, the “down” moments seemed to outnumber the “up” moments both at work and with life outside of work.
Coincidentally, while showing a PowerPoint presentation in class this week, the contents of one particular slide stuck with me. The slide focused on being aware of the concept of a healthy work-life balance and how consistently engaging in energizing activities is a good thing.
I realized that getting out of my recent funk wasn’t just random. Instead, there were simple actions that I took that re-energized me. Each action was quite different than the other, but taken all together, they played a major role in lifting my spirits up.
- Confided in colleagues – With my work challenges, I pretty much aired out all the details to a couple, trusted co-workers and got the support that I needed.
- Went back to exercising regularly – I had taken some time off from exercising due to some personal issues but realized that exercise, be it at the gym or at home doing “old-school” exercises, is one of those things that I must do consistently to feel right.
- Listened to music – Music has always been a wonderful, energizing activity for me, but I’ve neglected it for too long. Instead, I’ve been listening to talk radio when driving. So I went out and bought a couple of CDs (both volumes from Glee) and have had a blast learning, listening to, and singing along with some great songs during my daily work commute.
By the way, here are the responses that I got from my class when I showed them the PowerPoint slide mentioned previously and then asked: What do you do that energizes you?
- Read
- Play with my pets
- Get good grades
- Listen to music
- Exercise
- Play basketball
- Work out
- Participate in any kind of a competition
- Eat
- Drink coffee
- Cook
- Hang out with friends
- Sleep
- Shop