The Essential De-loading Phase: Why you need it in the Social Sectors

A few years ago I attended a workshop at professional conference presenting work that a team and I completed on humanitarian risk mapping related to Africa’s Sahel region. Previous professional conferences were a cognitive and emotional drain for me. The combination of new information and constant professional interaction left me exhausted at the end of each day and week. Admittedly, this is a ‘champagne problem’ for those of us who are lucky and industrious enough to build a career that we care about in the social sectors. Nonetheless, this mix of  exhaustion and stress that resulted from intense public work sessions and trainings was real for me, and many of my social sector friends. 

This has all changed for me in the last year. Now, these conferences, intense projects and trainings leave me energized and focused on enjoying life and achieving better professional practice.  

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Deloading
The concept of ‘deloading’ has made the crucial difference for me. Social Sector Titan inspiration Tim Ferriss writes about a deloading phase where he reduces inputs into his frenetic life to recover and refresh his mind. This concept mirrors athletic training where progressive stress such as added load, or  more running distance crescendos,  is then  followed by lower intensity training,  allowing the body to recover and rebuild. This creates a higher level of conditioning and strength than would have been possible through repetitive, monotonous processes.  Think of deloading as the equivalent of interval training; intermittent intensity levels lead to more endurance.

This concept has helped me flip the way I approach things like conferences, trainings, deployments to the field, and other social sector work events that used to leave me drained and unmotivated. I now treat these events as a brief deloading phase. As a participant in these events, you can use the time to learn new information from a creative and renewing perspective. 

How to deload
Visual notes - My visual notes have helped with the unloading process. Rather than taking copious text notes and seeking rote memorization, I document the new information visually with basic drawings and summary text to help process recent work and spur new ideas. 


Caption: Visual notes example

Changing the way you interact with new ideas and people - Rather than looking at each new interaction as loaded and essential for networking, I seek to ask a few good questions of those that I meet and uncover the fresh thinking that gets them most excited. Combining new ideas from the presentation and interactions with participants, with thoughts from my own recent deep work sessions provides a pause from the normal routine. This deloaded space helps internalize key concepts and makes room for discovering new thoughts and links that I can turn into novel areas of exploration, writing, or products to help people. 

Change the story you tell yourself: My internal dialogue has changed about these events:

Before: “This is a crucial interaction where I need to network with everyone attending and internalize every concept for the most useful outcome”.

Now with the deloading mindset: “I have this fantastic opportunity to break up my normal routine, hear about new, valuable work, and have creative interactions with new colleagues. Even though this is a work scenario,  I can use this time to process concepts, open my mind and come up with new ideas. 


Ignore the outcome: By focusing on absorbing new ideas and asking good questions, I limit my focus to things I can control. Outside of my control are other people’s perceptions of me and my work, and the outcome related to future collaboration or contact. It is always a relief to identify and release things outside of our circle of control.  

Previously stressful and draining interactions are now positive deloading episodes. By changing the story I tell myself and the way I approach people and ideas surrounding these events, I can come back to normal work and life energized and ready to be more present with family and friends while injecting new concepts and a refreshed outlook into my core work. 

This type of deloading cannot compensate for longer deloading periods such as leave from work and vacation that is 100% necessary for a full reset and long term work performance as well as happiness with the rest of your life. However, adding these mini deloading periods into work and life can create a more sustaining, higher performing state in the social sectors. 

What currently stressful interaction and events can you rewire to become a deloading phase?

How have you changed something from an energy loss into an energy gain?

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