Recovering like a pro

Recovering like a professional for your best Social Sector impact 

We all know what it is like to do something hard. We are working through the night on a big project, waking up early to get a jumpstart on work, or concentrating our minds to finish off a document before the deadline. This is a universal moment when we give it our best effort through concentration

In recent weeks I have been pushing my mind to the edge of my abilities by finishing up complex work projects with my team, and putting together proposals for new projects. On the athletic side, I put in the time and had some good luck, to complete my first ultra marathon, a 50k race through the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. These experiences got me thinking about the systems that we can put in place to recover from any big mental or physical push.

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Performance formula
Good recovery follows the performance formula: stress + rest = performance. We all have our own version of stress. This is the physical and mental load that we put on our bodies and minds in pursuit of what matters to us. After an exhausting push, we need to have an equally hard recovery protocol in place to replenish our reserves. After we drain the reserves, we fill them up to allow more enjoyment and work during the next big push. 

We can see this formula in action at the highest levels of sport. Lebron James has a detailed protocol that he follows at the end of each practice session and game. He explains to Tim Ferriss the outlines of his system of ice, stretches,  massage work, and meals that get him to recover as quickly as possible. This sequence lets his mind and body recover to be in the best possible condition for the next training session or game. 

The humanitarian system has mandated rest and recovery cycles in remote duty stations to allow for this recovery. Every difficult job has days off built in to allow for recovery of the mind and body. Organized religion has festival days, and our bodies themselves force sleep as a recovery tool to maintain energy and rebuild. 

Our own versions of those protocols are accessible to Social Sector workers to help us push our bodies and minds to the outer edge of our abilities. Pushing ourselves without recovery leads to breakdown and burnout or worse. Adding recovery  increases our enjoyment of life and makes us able to do better work on our chosen Social Sector missions. 

My version of the recovery protocol was dialing back the duration and intensity of my runs following the race, scaling up sleep and rolling out my muscles with a foam roller. The recovery protocol for the big work pushes involved camping out at a music festival in a big field next to a river. The festival is not far from civilization but happens to have no network coverage so I was forced off my phone for two days. 

In my Social Sector discipline of international humanitarian response, being busy is a badge of honor. Cutting recovery is also seen as virtuous, since your are demonstrating to others that you care less about yourself, and more about the humanitarian cause. This differentiates you and gives the illusion that  you are somehow better than others working on the same issues. I’ve fallen victim to this type of wrong-headed thinking in the past and can see the obvious flaws in this way of working and thinking. 

Here is a set of recovery mindsets, strategies and tactics that we can use to bounce back and be even more able to work and play after big efforts: 

Recovery Mindsets
Reframing recovery as essential - Recovery is an essential part of doing anything that is difficult or worthwhile. Skipping recovery can have positive short term outcomes like getting a lot of work done, but it will crash our systems over the long term, making us less able to be consistent on our best work and life, over the long term. We need to rewire our brains to understand the clear connection between hard work and big recovery. 

Recovery strategies
Schedule it into your week and day - Scheduling specific time for recovery into our workday means devoting blocks of time on the calendar that we are dedicating to recovery. The weekend is partially eaten up with life admin tasks like laundry, shopping and food prep. Add blocked out time where it is ‘your job’ to recover with things that help you bounce back. 

Pushing out our time expectations - Recovery will take time. This time may not feel well spent but it is essential, and will make our work and life quality measurably better. It is also fun to recover. Relaxing after a big push on work or athletics is one of the wonderful parts of life. 

Log your recovery - keeping track of our recovery time and activities makes us conscious of how much time we are dedicating to this essential function. It can also create a memory trip where we relive a fun camping trip or walk on the water’s edge. 

Recovery Tactics
Sleep - The essential building block of recovery. 

Food - While everyone is different, the more whole foods you can eat the better. The diet wars continue and we don't have a clear read on this issue, but experimenting and trying different types of food and logging how we feel afterward is a good first step. 

Moving the body - Even light movement has a lasting positive impact on the body for years. Exercise is the closest thing to a miracle drug that humans have discovered. But it has to work for our schedule and behaviour patterns. 

Nature - Walking outside under a tree or in grass has positive recovery effects. A social break can also recover the mind. 

Making it work for you: writing our own protocol
Professionals like Lebron have a detailed recovery protocol. Social Sector pros like us can also create a recovery system that helps us bounce back from hard work and setbacks in a way that makes us better workers and lifers when we refocus on the task at hand. 

Try writing a list of things that help you recover. This could be walks outside, sleep, reading, exercise, music… whatever shifts your mind away from work toward recovery. We can all have this list at the ready when the recovery block comes around on our calendar, and reap the rewards of increased work focus and life enjoyment. 

Happy Trails!

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