Relaxing… recharging… and renewing…

Phew! I’m back home after an exhilarating three weeks managing a client event in Kiev, Ukraine. Normally, I’d race back to Seattle and hit the ground running to manage another client event. But this time, I gave myself a gift of some downtime with family and my home country to recharge my batteries.

Relaxing isn’t easy for me. I’m typically thinking, planning, and executing at a rapid-fire pace. It’s hard to step away from the whirlwind and catch my breath. But I know it’s essential. I know I can get more done, more quickly and in smarter ways, if I take the time to recharge. If I rest both my brain and body. So I have techniques I use (sometimes that I have to force myself to use) to step back and slow down long enough to re-energize.

My two weeks in the U.K. with family and friends was just the ticket. I caught up on sleep, took some wonderful long walks in the English countryside, and had long, leisurely catch-up chats over tea with my mum and sis!

I’m feeling re-energized and reinvigorated. (We’ll see how long it lasts…)

When managing events for clients, I’m often on the go for 16 hours, eating on the run, sleeping irregular hours. It takes a toll. So when we’ve closed the books on another successful event, I break out my recharging routine. I work up a sweat at a gym, hike in the mountains, take a break from technology, soak in a long bath. An excellent glass of wine helps too…

And, I admit, I am a world-class napper — the Queen of the Power Nap. A twenty-minute power nap can turn me into a new woman. And I now don’t even feel guilty about those naps (though that took some work. I can also, at times, be the Queen of Guilt at what feels like a self-indulgence…)

How do you recharge when you’re constantly on the go with a “to-do” list longer than your arm? If you have any sure-fire techniques, I’d love to hear them!