Timestamps

00:00:00: Introduction

00:01:29: Idea for action 1: active rest

00:04:07: Idea for action 2: boosts and boundaries

00:06:07: Useful resource

00:06:26: Final thoughts

Interview Transcription

Sarah Ellis: This is episode 16 of the Squiggly Career Skills Sprint and today we are talking about energy.

Helen Tupper: I am very excited about this Skills Sprint.

Sarah Ellis: Of course you are, you're the energy queen.

Helen Tupper: It is though, so it's one of my values, which to me means being positive and proactive, so that's what my definition of energy is, but it's also one of our company values, I've worked it in!  So, it does feel really important to me.  I don't know if I'm an energy expert or anything, it's just something that I think is a big part probably of my identity. 

And the reason I think energy is important for all of us, whether it's your value or not, is because Squiggly Careers have got lots of change, they've got lots of challenge, there is a requirement for us to be work in progress and be a learn-it-all, and I think that that is a lot easier to do if you have energy in those situations.  You can bring whatever.  I think my energy is quite a visible energy.  I don't think everyone's energy has to look like mine.

Sarah Ellis: Thank goodness!

Helen Tupper: I would say we both have a lot of energy, but actually it comes out in very different ways.  You see mine probably because it's smiley, it's noisy, it's visible.  Whereas I think you have a lot of energy within you for the things that you do and the way that you work and who you help.  Energy doesn't have to look like one thing, but it is a skill that when you bring it to your work, helps you to achieve more of the things that are important to you and succeed in a Squiggly Career in that context of change.

Sarah Ellis: So, my idea for action here is about how you reboot your energy.  And though I think this can look different for all of us, we often make the mistake of thinking, "Well, to re-energise when perhaps I'm feeling exhausted, I just need to lie on the sofa, I just need to be completely restful". 

And of course there is a time and a place for that.  But Alex Pang introduced me to this idea of something called active rest.  And what active rest is, is doing something that takes all of your energy and effort from your brain, you have to be fully present, but it's not work.  And actually, that re-energises us for work, I think, in a different way.  And it might sound exhausting, because you might just think, "Oh, yeah, but I've given all my energy to work, and now I need to give all my energy to this other thing that's all consuming"  But actually, I think it just gives our brain a boost and a break in a different way. Don't be put off by the word "active".  It might mean going for a 10K run, or it could be doing a really hard gym class or boxing or something like that.  But equally, some other examples are things like gaming, I know that works for some people.  It could be gardening, it could be cooking, if you're Helen.  The only rule really is you've got to be fully in it.  I think it actually has to have some stretch and challenge in so that you can't be thinking about work. 

So, my question to you would be, "What do you do that feels like active rest for you, where you're fully in it?  But also frequency; how often do you have active rest in your week?"  Because I remember a moment in my career, actually probably only a couple of years ago, where I realised I had very little active rest.  I was watching Netflix, obviously, I was relaxing in an evening, but I hadn't really got any active rest.  And adding that back into my weeks and my days has given me way more energy. My one watch-out on energy, because this is my own personal watch-out which Helen will know, is just because something drains your energy doesn't give you an excuse to not do it sometimes.  And so, for example, one of the things that drains my energy is meeting loads and loads of new people, so going to an event where I'm not going to know very many people.  But if I never did that, I wouldn't make new connections, I would limit my learning.  And the thing that I now do, which has made such a massive difference to me, saying yes to some things that I just know I'm going to find draining, is just adding in the rebooting and the recovery.  So, what I'm not going to do is go to two events two nights in a row, or what I'm not going to do is have something that's going to really drain my energy for too long.  So, adding in those reboots I think is really helpful.

Helen Tupper: And so, my idea is about boosts and boundaries.  So, as somebody who I think I have a naturally high level of energy, but I would say that the way that I maintain that is this boosts and boundaries thing.  So I know, for example, there are certain things that I do that give me almost a constant, they keep my energy relatively constant. 

So, sleep, I don't sleep loads.  One of my friends who talks about being a sloth, she loves a good 12 hours.  I don't need 12 hours, the sleep sloth, but I do need a good 6- to 7-hour sleep, I do need that, and I protect it a lot because I know that in the morning, I just haven't got the same level of energy, I don't feel like myself.  So, sleep is really important to me.  I think that where I work, there are certain things, like working in an environment where there are other people, I don't like to be on my own for too long.

 So, I have certain things that I design into my days that give me a constant energy, it means I can do what I do. But then I also know what boosts me and I prioritise it, and this is very different to Sarah, because I find even when I'm tired, so we've been at the end of a long and busy day and we've been doing lots of different things, like many of you I'm sure do, for me, the best thing for me to do sometimes at that point is to go out with other people, which would be the worst thing for Sarah.  But I know that even if I'm tired, I'll come away from that moment more energised.  I remember when we first started our business, we were doing it as a side project, and we would be tired from our jobs and then we would go, we would meet at 6.30, have a quick coffee, which probably helped the energy, and then we would go and train people from 7.00 until, was it like 8.30?

Sarah Ellis: Yeah. Helen Tupper: And I'd be on the train at 9.30 and I would be buzzing, because I know that career development and being with people is a part of a boost for me.  And I think working out what are your boundaries, like your basics, what are your basics for your energy, and then what boosts you, and looking at your week, looking at your month and making sure that you protect the things that are your energy boundaries and that you add in some of the boosts, because we're all going to need them, that's what helps me stay energetic in my way.

Sarah Ellis: And there's a great article that we'll link to, which is all about managing your energy rather than your time, and I think it's a really useful reframe, because we've all got the same amount of time but we don't all have the same amount of energy.

Helen Tupper: And a second one, if we're allowed to squeeze one more in, Simon Alexander Ong has a really good book called Energise and I think he's got some really practical tips in that as well.

Sarah Ellis: So, that's everything for today's Skills Sprint and in episode 17, we're going to be talking about courage, so how to be brave in your career.