“Right now, we take better care of our smart phones than we do of ourselves. Like I bet everyone…right now knows how much battery remains on their smart phones—if it gets below thirteen percent we get anxious…’what would happen if it died?’…Until I collapsed, I was unaware I was at zero percent.”

— Ariana Huffington, Interview with Chase Jarvis

 

Do you know how much “battery power” you have left?

Not in your smart phone, but in you?

When I first got out of college, I thought that to succeed, I had to be “on” at all times. No matter what my situation, I had to get to work. When I had bronchitis, I coughed my way down snow covered sidewalks to catch a bus then two trains to get to the bookstore I worked at in Boston. Then, when I moved to Pennsylvania, as a very new youth pastor, I showed up to work one Sunday morning after being in a car accident the night before. I was in terrible pain. But I was there.

There is this idea, that as leaders, we aren’t afforded the luxury of rest. That if we aren’t available 100 percent of the time, we’re letting people down. If we’re not working eighty hour weeks, we’re not committed. And if we don’t say yes to everything that comes across our desk, we’re weak.

Only this line of thinking (and living), had me talking to doctors about possibly removing my gallbladder at twenty-six. It had me figuring out what acid reflux medicine would actually work for me. And it caused me to lose my voice like clock work at the beginning of every month one winter. Until finally, I realized working all the time was not practicing sustainable leadership. 

Being “on” all the time isn’t healthy or possible. In fact it doesn’t even work within the natural laws of our planet. As Ariana Huffington alluded to, our cell phones need to be recharged regularly—so why do we think we don’t? 

Recently, I read Huffington’s book, The Sleep Revolution, in which she debunks the myth that sleep isn’t necessary in our modern world. It is a great read, and shares the many scientific findings of how imperative sleep is to both our physical and emotional well being. For example, did you know that getting a good nights sleep helps ward off depression and anxiety? 

In The Sleep Revolution, Huffington shares that the less sleep and rest we get, the less productive we are. Where the Industrial Revolution and the invention of electricity, had us believing productivity rested in working late into the night, science is actually proving otherwise. In fact, she writes that sleep might play an important role in helping us figure out the bigger questions we have, both socially and in business. But sleep is just one piece of the puzzle in making us stronger leaders. 

When I finally realized in my late twenties that being “on” and available all the time was actually hurting my leadership, I found there were a few types of rest missing in my life. One was definitely sleep. But others included regular time in my schedule where I wasn’t thinking about my job. Finding activities that would help strengthen my body and mind (like exercise, reading, taking a class, etc.). And spending time with people I didn’t work with. 

Making time to rest in every way from my job, gave me important perspective and renewed my energy to lead more effectively. Not only that, but it also helped me see the opportunity I had, to raise up those I was leading to take on more responsibility. It gave them a chance to grow, and freed me up to take on new projects. It also helped me see that being a leader didn’t mean having do all the things and hold all the power in my sphere. Rather, it meant effectively distributing my power to those under me who could make it grow (see Thursday’s Leadership Tip for more on this). 

When we as leaders rest, we are making room in our lives for more not less. We are opening up space to restore ourselves physically, rejuvenate our creativity, and reenergize our passion for what we do. Rather than seeing rest as an unaffordable luxury, we as leaders need to see that it is a necessity we can’t afford to skip. 

When was the last time you checked your “battery?”

How do you need to rest this week?

 

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