Find New Ways to Rest, Recover & Recharge

In our increasingly fast-paced world, filled with constant distractions and demands, it can be incredibly tempting to overlook the essential self-care routines that enable us to pause, rejuvenate, and replenish our energies.

Additionally, knowing when your usual tools aren't effective and adding new ones to your daily routine can help prevent stress and feeling overwhelmed.

If you feel like your go-to tools aren’t as effective as they used to be, try this helpful exercise to shake them up!

Find New Ways to Rest, Recover & Recharge

STEP 1

Consider ‘The 7 Types of Rest’, Developed by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, which states that there are 7 types of tiredness, each requiring 7 types of rest:

Do any of these surprise you as a form of rest?

We often view sleep as the main way to rest and recharge. However, to maintain ample energy to tackle life's challenges and avoid burnout, it's important to embrace various forms of rest beyond just sleeping.

STEP 2

Review the tools and strategies that you typically use and decide if they are still effective for you. These could be Yoga (Physical) Meditation (Mental) Drinking with friends)/colleagues (Social) Reading (Sensory) Journalling (Emotional) Writing (Creative).

Tip: Consider recent scenarios when you used a regular practice or tool to recover from stress or to rest. Did you feel better afterwards? Were you still stressed/tired/overwhelmed? Or did it achieve the desired outcome for you? Then decide which of these tools you will keep and which you will stop doing.

STEP 3

Choose new ways to rest, recover and recharge from the list below. There are some common types of rest, plus some extra ideas that my membership group came up with when we discussed this subject. It was a lot of fun! 😃

Here are lots of great ideas for you to choose from! 🎉

Physical - Sleeping, napping, yoga, stretching, massages, cardio exercise, taking time to ground psychically (bare feet on the earth), walking, swimming

Mental - Short regular breaks from work, Meditation or Mindfulness, Regular breaks from social media and screens, Complete puzzles, crosswords or mindful colouring books

FUN FACT: Solving puzzles when feeling burnt out or stressed can help you overcome lack of motivation or despair. By solving puzzles, you trick your mind into feeling accomplished. IN ADDITION, it can be a form of mindfulness and will get you out of your own head of destructive/negative thoughts 👍

Social - Quality time with friends or family, time alone, detaching from friendships that feel like hard work or drain your energy, taking a bath with candles

Sensory - Take a digital detox, Walks in nature, Sit in low-lighting, Keep your phone out of the bedroom, no screens an hour after waking and 2 hours before bed

Spiritual - Practice gratitude, meditation or yoga. Prayer, Buddhism

Emotional - Journalling, brain dumping thoughts, therapy, coaching acupuncture, Reading for 20 minutes in the morning to rest thoughts before the day begins.

Creative - Expose yourself to new experiences to inspire you, Read or listen to music with no other distractions, Listen to a Podcast

Finally, choose a manageable number of tools to try out and plan them into your schedule. Whether it’s trying just one, one a week or one a month, commit to trying new ways to rest, recover and recharge to prevent future burnout and handle your work and life better!

Need some help? Get in touch if you would like to book an introductory call with me and we can include a review of the tools you use to rest and discover new strategies to support you going forward.

Get in touch by email here or DM me over on Instagram

Louise