Happiness Hive Podcast Episode #71 - Catherine Bowyer - The Art of Recharging: Ramping Up After a Well-Deserved Break
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[00:00:00] (Intro) βHi, welcome to the Happiness Hive podcast. I'm Catherine Bowyer, and I am completely fascinated by people and what motivates them. I've spent the past three and a half decades specializing in mindset and human behaviour, and I've helped thousands of people to create happy and amazing lives. And now I am super excited to be chatting with women from around the world who I have secret, and to be honest, not so secret crushes on. They're women who inspire me. I'm intrigued as to how they do life and what makes them tick. I want to find out their magic formula that makes them who they are. And at the end of the episode, I'd love for you to say, I'd like a little bit of what she's having. The conversations are real and raw. They're full of passion, inspiration, and lots of fun and nothing is off limits. So grab yourself a cuppa or pop on your trackie and go for a walk and join us for today's chat. [00:01:00] There may just be that pearl of wisdom you need to hear. So let's shimmy on over and get started.
[00:01:06] Hi there and welcome to another one of the episodes that I'm hosting in the Quick Sticks Happiness Tips series. So these are short little episodes where I'm sharing some bite sized practical tips and insights into just different areas of life. And I'm inspired by things that are going on in my life, things that are going on in my clients and people that I know their lives that kind of just trigger like, Oh, that could be a useful little thing to talk about.
[00:01:45] So it's about Whether you're just seeking a mood lift or helping to reduce any stress or just a quick pick me up. So this is just a dash of positive positivity. So short, [00:02:00] sort of 10, 15 minute little episodes that we've got of the podcast.
[00:02:07] And today's episode is about the art of recharging. So ramping up after a well deserved break. And I know for many its summer here in Australia, the season of having holidays, taking a break. And I know it's different for different people where they're based around the world. And you might be listening to this at another time in the year. After having a break, because not everybody takes their, their break at, during the, the holiday season here in Australia, I know a lot of people don't, a lot of people choose to work through this time and then they take their break when it's not so busy with others.
[00:02:56] So, and I quite often [00:03:00] when I'm working with people and I felt like this myself as well, that when I've had this beautiful break. And we've already talked about the, the, how to slow down. So hopefully you've got into the groove of slowing down, but sometimes it's about how do we then ramp up after we've slowed down and thinking about what does ramping up really, really mean to you?
[00:03:24] Because a lot of people that I work with, they just, they share with me going, Oh, I can't even remember. I've just got back from holidays and it feels like I need another holiday to get over it. I don't, I can't remember what it feels like to be refreshed. I've come back to work and there's all this stuff waiting for me and they're just into this crazy busy, as though things haven't even changed.
[00:03:50] So I think it's a really good idea to do a reset. If you've had a break, think about what can you do [00:04:00] to bottle that feeling of what it was like on your break and also setting the intention for what you want it to be like after your break.
[00:04:12] So set your intention. My first Tip is to set your intention for what you want things to be like now that you've had a break. So if you felt worn out before your break, you don't want to go back and to be doing things that caused the the burnout and feeling worn out. So think about what was it that was leading you to feel exhausted. And what how did you manage and cope with that? And what can you do differently so that doesn't happen again? What lessons can you learn from that?
[00:04:45] And then think about how you want things to be on your return. So if you're feeling nice and refreshed what can you do to keep that energy going? And it will probably be different for all of you, but [00:05:00] it will be what can do to keep that energy going?
[00:05:05] Reflect and reset. So take a moment to reflect on the break that you've had. What did you enjoy about it? What insights did you gain from it? And using the reflections to kind of reset your mindset for the tasks ahead? That what can you do differently so you won't feel as exhausted? What are you in control of? What can you do? What can you influence? And what do you have no control of? And then think about where are you going to put your energy in relation to those things.
[00:05:44] And really thinking about having a mindful return after your break. So ease back into your routine gradually. You know, begin with a mindful, setting realistic expectations of what you're going to do and achieve [00:06:00] upon your return and how you want things to go.
[00:06:03] So are you going to go in and from zero to 100 straight from after your break or are you going to ease into it? Now your situations might, you know, depends on the environment that you'll be in, but just think about if you We're feeling worn out and we're feeling exhausted. A lot of people that I've spent time with, when I ask them how they going, they just go, Oh my God, I'm just exhausted. I'm exhausted. It's going, Oh, it's interesting. What, what, where's that exhaustion coming from? Is it coming from what you're doing? How you're doing it? How you feeling about the stuff? So is it the physical? Is it the mental? Is it the emotional? And it's often a combination of all of those things. So we wanting to be able to come back after our break, keeping that [00:07:00] refreshed feeling.
[00:07:01] So block out time for the important things. Whenever I, I have my big break in December, January. That's, that's my time of the year. That's the cadence that I work with. I have other breaks, like other holiday breaks throughout the year. Absolutely. But I block out things. So I've gone through my new year, fabulous next level me process.
[00:07:23] And I've worked out what my big goals are for the year. I block out time to make things happen. So what is it that I'm wanting to, what are the important things for me in the year? So holidays, absolutely. Planning sessions for the, my business and time out for my business as well. Birthdays and celebrations, catch ups that I want to have with the family and friends.
[00:07:49] Like I don't put every single event in, but I block out the big events because I've been caught before when I haven't blocked out holiday time and I [00:08:00] haven't had the break. And I felt exhausted and burnt out. So I go through and it's going to be good. This is the last year where I have to kind of, coincide with school holiday breaks.
[00:08:13] We had to do that when the kids were little, but John being a teacher, we take our family holidays during school holidays because of his commitments, but we're not going to have to do that when he retires. So we can actually go on holidays. When we're not paying a squillion bucks because it's peak season on things. So I block out time for the important things. Date nights as well. Me time, block that out.
[00:08:39] I'm thinking about a transition period. So if possible allow for, it's like just easing back into things, you know, between your break and full, full on work mode. So it might be I know a lot of people when they come back from extent, you know, a holiday break, they'll come back say on the Thursday, they'll [00:09:00] spend two days at work, Thursday and Friday, then they've got the weekend off.
[00:09:04] Then they're back at work again on the Monday. So they're easing into it. I think that's actually a very clever strategy, but however works for you, like your work might not allow that. And the type of work you do might not allow that. But I think that's actually really good.
[00:09:19] One of the other things I think about is my work rhythm. So what's good and sustainable rhythm for me? Do you like being crazy busy? Do you, and what's sustainable? As I've said in previous episodes, I'm busy. But I am very discerning about where I choose to be busy. I'm not just doing it. I'm not just rushing into things anymore because it was like, Oh, it felt like an exciting thing to do.
[00:09:48] I'm very discerning about where I'm, where my business is going and what it's actually producing, but what's sustainable, there's a lot of [00:10:00] people that being busy 24/7, like, actually, that's not what I wanted to say, but, you know, for whatever your work day commitment is, or your work and work weekends, it's not sustainable to be busy a hundred percent of the time. So thinking about what your work rhythm is, what your energy level is, and how can you work with that and not against that? You know, when are your peak energy times and then can you plan tasks and activities around them?
[00:10:36] I absolutely can for the most part in my world. My energy levels are at the highest. Earlier in the day. I'm a, I'm an early, early, early to rise. I used to be really early to bed. Not so much now, but I, I tend not to have as much concentration later in the day or the afternoon. I certainly can [00:11:00] concentrate then, but I choose if I'm doing something that takes a lot of my thinking, I am better off doing that in the morning around that.
[00:11:10] And there was also something else that I was going to say, but that's going out of the, you know, peak energy times, plan tasks and activities around them. And also I see a lot of this with people that work in corporate, and especially that there's more online meetings that they have, there's no buffer time. They've got back to back meetings and a lot of the corporate Leaders that I work with that just say, I have a whole day of back to backs and it's just like, that's not, that's not good for you. Mentally, physically, that you need to. You need to actually have a break in between, and productivity wise, that's actually not very clever way of doing business [00:12:00] is to have those back to back. So I'd really encourage you to have some buffer time.
[00:12:04] There was one woman I worked with years ago. She would be on her iPad on the way to work while her, her husband drove her to work. She would get to work about seven o'clock.
[00:12:14] She would bring two thermos with her in a office that had a tearoom. She would bring the thermoses with her because it saved her having to get up from her desk to go to the tearoom. I was just like, Oh my God, where's your bloody potty to use? Because if you're not making time to get up and make a cup of tea, are you actually making time to go to the bathroom? She burnt out big, big time. She was got very, very sick. So taking breaks, absolutely. Make time for breaks.
[00:12:47] And then create habits that support your work life integration. You know, are we balancing it? To me, it's about integrating our work and our lives together. So, When you're [00:13:00] coming back from a break, start out the way that you want to continue.
[00:13:04] You know, if you set healthy habits of how you want your life to flow, you're more likely to stick with it than getting back into the old habits that led you to feeling exhausted. That would be my real takeaway is thinking about when you're coming back after a break, how do you want the cadence of your work to be going and your life to be going?
[00:13:25] And really rest establish, reestablish, continue with healthy habits. And it's not making everything so complicated that you don't stick to them after three days habits that you can integrate into your life and anchor the feeling that of what it was like to be on your break. So healthy habits, absolutely.
[00:13:49] And then anchoring that feeling and what I do there is I have photos, I have images, and I have things that have been represent what it's like for me to [00:14:00] feel, in that nice relaxed state. And I have them around visually. So when I look at it, it brings me back into that that, that feeling. Especially if life starting to get wobbly, it's about then going, Oh, actually, I can see the patterns of what's going to happen here.
[00:14:20] So anyway, there's some just little tips around recharging. So revamping after you've had that well deserved break and then setting a kind of sustainable way that you can continue, so you sure take more breaks have a, have a fantastic, well deserved break, but don't go into the break being absolutely exhausted.
[00:14:49] If you want more tips you can sign up to the Happiness Hive newsletter where I do share just some other fabulous tips about living your [00:15:00] best and most fabulous life. So if you found this tip useful, I'd love for you also to share your comments, to rate and review. That would really help. I would love that.
[00:15:12] Hugs, happiness. See you later.
[00:15:16] Thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed the episode. You can spread the love by sharing it with a friend so she can have a little bit of what we had today. And don't forget to rate and review, so we can get it into as many hearts and ears as possible. You can keep the conversation going over on my socials at The Happiness Hive. And if you'd like more high vibe happiness in your life, come and join me in our community of inspired and motivated women, where you'll have everything that you need to be truly happy and bounce out of bed every day, living and loving your best and most beautiful life. To find out more, pop over to the Happiness Hive website and click on the link Working with Catherine. Until next [00:16:00] time, big hugs and happiness.
