I have to admit to being terrible at creating and protecting space for myself in amongst the every day work schedule. It's one of the things I regularly fail at. So there was lots to take from this episode of the EatSleepWorkRepeat podcast (from friend of ODF Bruce Daisley). There were a couple of things in particular that resonated with me.
David McClements (whom Bruce is interviewing) makes the point that it's often the stronger people that fall over and collapse from overwork because it's those people that just keep on pushing rather than realise that they have reached their limit and back off.
The discussion about how Sir Chris Hoy managed his energy whilst training for his multiple Olympic wins is also fascinating. David talks about how in between hard training sessions Sir Chris would take any opportunity he could to conserve energy. If he could sit down instead of stand he would. If he could lie-down instead of sit, he would. We might think of elite athletes as being continuously active but Sir Chris's approach was to manage the energy in his legs so that as much as possible was available for when he needed it. The parallel point being of-course, how important it is to take time out and rest (our brains and our bodies) in amongst the constant pressure to work and go faster.
The irony of writing this in an airport on a Friday night on the way home from a week on the road is not lost on me. I need to do better.
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