Recharge. It's the key

Recharging yourself is about saying NO

The fine line between online and offline

As we move further into the digital age, the fine line between online and offline will soon not be so fine anymore. The same can be said about work and personal life. Nowadays, the need to recharge ourselves has become a key skill that is more important than ever before. Recharging yourself is essential and a skill that can be trained so you can improve your overall wellbeing.

Our modern society is one that is always on (the move), with constant stimuli from our smartphones, social media, and other technologies. We work longer hours, take on more responsibilities, and face a growing sense of pressure to perform at our best. This can lead to burnout, stress, and a host of other health problems.

The need to recharge is growing and there are no signs that this is slowing down any time soon. Recharging is not simply a matter of taking a break or going on vacation. It is a good way to recharge but if you keep doing the same things over and over again you will not make any long lasting changes.

Recharging can be much simpler and easier than that. It can be as simple as taking a deep breath, going for a walk or doing a few stretches.

The real problem

The core of the problem of our lack of recharging can be found in distractions. We used to do a few big things in a day and nowadays we do thousands of tiny actions. These days it is possible to read the latest news or an article on the toilet. Where are you now?

In the age before mainstream internet and smartphones, which is less than 25 years ago, people lived a much simpler life. I’m not saying they lived a better life but it was much simpler.

Wake-up, go to work, sleep. This simple layout hasn’t changed but the way we fill all emptiness has changed, dramatically. While the iPhone was born, boredom died.

We have built the habits to fill our whole day. The smallest sense of boredom triggers a response in the form of pulling out our smartphone. This is not sustainable and the results are clearly visible. Burnouts are at an all time high and most of us are aware of this.

Where do you pay the price?

You gotta pay the price somewhere. The questions is: where?

Human beings can’t go on forever. Half of our life is for maintenance anyway. We have to sleep, eat, shower and all the other things we do to keep ourselves alive. Almost everyone wants to improve but not everyone wants to change. This is a problem.

Most people are willing to do a little bit more but recharging is not about doing more. It often comes down to saying no. Saying no to the urge to pull out your smartphone, or to check email during an online meeting or any other shiny distraction that comes along during a normal day.

The first step is weeding out the nonsense and start caring

I asked the abbott (the main monk) in the monastery what the meaning of life was. His answer was to care. I asked who I should care for and he replied that I should care for the one I am with.

This means that if you are in meeting, you care for those in the meeting. When you are with family or friends, you care for your family or friends. When you are by yourself, you care for you.

Go for that walk, say no to junkfood and take that digital detox. If you are already doing all of those you can ask yourself how you can do even better. Go on an internet fast by behaving like the internet goes offline as soon as you leave the office. Use that time to connect with your family or friends and see how you feel after that. Still not enough? Take a bath or just dip your toes in a foot bath with magnesium flakes.

Whatever it is, the first step is to free up some time by simply weeding all the nonsense out of your life and start caring.