It’s Recovery Time!
“We live in a world that celebrates work and activity, ignores renewal and recovery, and fails to recognize that both are necessary for sustained high performance.” Jim Loehr, PhD - The Power of Full Engagement
While I’m not proud of this fact, there is a part of me that distains “down time.” It’s the same part of me that equates efficiency and maximizing accomplishment as the measure of effectiveness/success and too often neglects creative time and margin as “unproductive.” Most who work in healthcare have a bit of this in us. “Achieving”, “producing,” and “high-performance” seem to be part of the DNA of our professional lives. And yet production without recovery leads to breakdown … of individuals, relationships, teams, organizations.
I’ve written previously of the importance of embracing the paradox of polarity, of looking for opportunities to incorporate ‘both/and” rather than “either/or” thinking into our lives. In my own life I have frequently not honored this dynamic, tending to favor one side of the “paradox” over the other. I seem to be more drawn to “gathering,” “inhaling,” and saying “yes” rather than “letting go,” “exhaling,” and saying “no,” whether it pertains to more “to dos” at work or just trying to squeeze more in my life without cutting back or stopping anything. And when we do that enough, what was once a ‘blessing” can soon become “busy” and at some point, a “burden” which if clung to long enough can lead to “burnout.”
Do you remember Aesop’s fable of the goose and the golden egg? To refresh your memory, one morning a farmer finds a glittering, gold-colored egg sitting beneath his goose. At first he thinks it is a prank, but he decides to have the egg appraised just in case. To the farmer’s amazement, the egg is pure gold! Each morning his now prized goose continues laying the valuable eggs, and the farmer becomes extremely wealthy. But he also becomes impatient, wanting the goose to produce more rapidly. One day in his frustration the farmer kills the goose, hoping to get all of the golden eggs at once from inside the goose. As we all know, he finds nothing, and now has neither a goose nor any more golden eggs.
In a book that has greatly influenced me, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen Covey uses a lesson of this fable to provide his definition of effectiveness: “To maintain … the balance between the golden egg (production) and the health and welfare of the goose (production capability) is often a difficult judgment call. But I suggest it is the very essence of effectiveness.”
The work of Jim Loehr has taught me much about the importance of the dynamic of engagement and recovery in order for optimal effectiveness and consistent high performance to be achieved. And these lessons are equally important whether we’re talking about a goose, a professional athlete, or a healthcare professional.
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned, as well as how your PeerRxMed partner can play a key role in your ongoing professional (and personal) healing, sustainability, growth, and effectiveness. As we begin that exploration together, I encourage you to reflect as to how you’re doing with the “renewal and recovery” portion of the “work and activity/renewal and recovery” dynamic. Building in time for regular recovery is essential for our well-being but is not always encouraged by our professional culture nor by our inner “drive.” Let’s help each other break unhelpful patterns. Doing so may not always be easy, but it will sure be worth it.