Last Saturday, I completed an enormous project at work: a large scale event that required a full team effort and six months of coordination and planning. Everything went off without a hitch and I left incredibly proud of our team and of what we were able to accomplish. 

Sunday morning, however, I awoke like a zombie. I could barely piece together a complete sentence, couldn’t focus on what my husband was saying to me, and could think of only one thing: sleep. I was exhausted deep in my bones. 

I had thought about that Sunday often during the months of planning, imagining the relief I’d feel on the other side of such a big project. I’d scheduled a meetup with some friends that evening, and I’d envisioned all the free space in my work calendar I could re-allocate to other projects. 

Nothing had prepared me for the exhaustion I’d feel for days after this big undertaking. Leading up to the event, I’d been mindful about exercising, eating healthfully, and keeping my schedule clear.

However, following the event, I was ill-prepared for the intensity of dealing with the tasks that had been on the backburner while I focused on the bigger project. I was emotionally sensitive, my patience was short, and my energy was lagging. 

Meet the Author

Colleen Cook works full-time as the Director of Operations at Vinyl Marketing in Ashland, where she resides with her husband Mike and three young daughters. She’s an insatiable extrovert who enjoys finding reasons to gather people.

I’m an extremely extroverted individual. People often mistake extroversion versus introversion as being outgoing versus shy, when in fact they’re about where you draw energy. Introverts are fueled by time alone, whereas extroverts are fueled by time spent with others. Typically, whichever type you identify with, time spent in the opposite way draws on your energy. 

For me, a great conversation, a group of friends, or a fun night out can leave me bouncing for days. This week, by chance, we had a team building outing that was extremely social and fun on Wednesday, and that evening my husband and I had a double date with some friends. By the time we got home Wednesday, I felt like myself, fully energized for the first time in days. Thursday came and I was once again focused, productive, and on top of my game. 

Working through my exhaustion from this project has brought to the surface another truth I often neglect: in addition to social interaction, I also require regular and sufficient rest. I have been all too happy to cram every day, every hour full of activity. I am exceptional at squeezing in extra hours to work, kids’ activities, social endeavors, board meetings among an already cluttered schedule. However, I’m poor at leaving white space on our calendar for rest and recovery. 

Part of this failing comes from my own proclivity to socialize, for sure, but I also feel cannot deny that I am prodded on by a culture that applauds my busy schedule as proof of my importance. When we ask our friends and acquaintances how they are, inevitably the answer will be some form of “busy;” no one ever responds, “bored.” 

Yet, working ourselves to the point of burnout and filling every moment of our days without leaving time for rest, for peace, is draining to our minds, bodies and spirits, and is a hard habit to break. It’s hard to exercise boundaries around our rest time in the way we do around booked up hours. It’s counter-cultural to allocate time for rest and recovery in a culture that worships the hustle.

My hope for myself as I enter the cozy winter months that can so easily be cluttered with holiday events and expectations, that I carve out regular time for rest, for recovery of my mind, body and spirit, and that I protect that time in my calendar, so that I might be able to spread that peace and joy into my daily endeavors.