Learning Leadership

What I Learned in 2011: Get Enough Sleep (but not too much)

Today is the final post of my series sharing with you what I learned in 2011. I hope you have found it helpful and have been able to glean some good information.

Another thing I learned in 2011 is that I need to get enough sleep (but not too much).

As I have grown older I have noticed that sleep is more important to the work I do. I do not necessarily attribute this to my age, but more to the type of work I now do which requires more conscious thought. 

Years ago most of the work I completed was task focused work such as running meetings, producing a newsletter, calling volunteers, etc. Now I have shifted to doing more thought work in creating books, Bible studies, and giving talks. Because that work takes conscious effort to think good thoughts and form those thoughts into something that can be taught, I need more sleep.

On Friday evenings is when I have noticed lack of sleep negatively affecting my ability to work the most. Friday evenings I am normally tired and wiped-out after a long week of working. When I sit down at my desk at 8 PM on a Friday night to try and develop a lesson or do some writing for my blog I notice two things:

1. My thoughts come slower
2. My thoughts are not as clear

No other reason would cause these two things to happen in my work besides the fact that I am emotionally, physically, and intellectually exhausted.

Thus, I have noticed that my work requires I receive enough sleep on a regular basis. Yes, I can get by a night or two on several hours of sleep if I really have to, but I need to focus on getting between six and eight hours of sleep every night. Everyone is different so how much sleep you need is something you will need to gage on your own for how much sleep you might need to feel refreshed and equipped for work. 

I would also like to share that you do not want to get too much sleep. Like anything else in life there needs to be a balance. You need to receive the amount of sleep that allows you to feel refreshed the next day, but that also does not give you too much sleep. The Bible book of Proverbs is full of advice that too much sleep is not good because lazy people love to sleep which eventually leads to their downfall and poverty. 

With that said, sleep is important for everyone to receive in order to feel good and be able to give our best effort in life.

Question: How much sleep do you need and how do you make sure you get it?

Find Out What Recharges You

My Tony Robbins Results Coach, Mike Savage taught me a few years ago to find out what recharges me.  This topic came up at a time when I was working extremely hard and feeling burnt out.  At the time my energy level was very low and I was struggling to get all my work done. 

As a leader who (at that time) expends lots of energy leading meetings, starting projects, taking inititiave, and working with people, I need to make sure I know what recharges me.  For me, activities that recharge me are reading a good nonfiction book, spending time with my girlfriend, praying, and writing. 

These are activities I do every day to recharge my batteries and get ready for the next day.

Question: What recharges you?

Why You Need to Take Time Off

Today's post continues my series of sharing with you what I learned in 2010 about leadership.

- - - - -

Taking time off is extremely beneficial to a leader.  I recently wrote a lengthy post about this, so I won't go into too much more detail. 

But I certainly learned in 2010 that I need to take time off.

A couple of years ago I began taking one day off per week, and it has been extremely beneficial to me professionally and personally.  To be honest, I get more work done in six days of working hard than I used to get done working seven days a week (and I worked many long 7 day weeks).

That seems counter-intuitive, but it is true.

Why?

Because when I take a day off, I actually have a day to rest and relax.  I normally take Sundays off so when Monday comes, I am refreshed and energized for the week.  But when I would work seven days a week, Monday would come and I would still feel tired and burnt out.  I never felt like I had a chance to rest and recharge my batteries.

Since beginning to take one day off per week, I have had increased energy, more productivity throughout the week, and I feel better.

Question: Do you take time off on a regular basis? Why or why not?

Taking a Day Off

Last year I realized that I needed to begin taking one day off a week.  At the time I was working very hard seven days a week, often going many months without taking a day off to rest and relax.  At the time I was a single bachelor with very little family in the area where I lived, so I didn't really have anyone I would rather spend time with instead of working.  I had work and some friends, but not much else.

At the time I was working eight hours a day at United Way until 5 PM, then I would transition into "A Day of Hope mode" where I would work for the next three hours on fundraising letters, recruiting volunteers, our e-newsletter and social media we had going.  Then, on Saturdays I would often do a fundraiser car wash for A Day of Hope and then Sunday was catch up day on administrative work.

However, after working for several years this way it began to take a tole on my body.  I began to have some tendinitis in my right arm and felt really burnt out.  Because I knew my mild health issues were probably self-inflicted from my extremely hard work regimen, I realized that it was something I could probably change, if I changed my work and rest habits.

So,
as a result I began taking Sundays off from work.  The affects this has had on me has been extremely significant in my life as a leader and as a man.  Let me quickly summarize what I learned from taking one-day off a week:

1. I was refreshed - When Monday morning came around, I always felt refreshed because I had an entire day off to rejuvenate and get ready for the week.  Before, when I was working seven days a week, Monday would come around and I would feel burnt out and tired.  I never gave myself a break to just rest and relax.  But once I began taking one day to just rest and relax, I was able to actually start every week fresh.  And it felt good.

I never quite realized how burnt out I was until I took some time off.

2. I was more productive with the time I had - When I realized I only had six days a week to get the work done that I normally took seven days to do, I had to find a resolution.  And that resolution was to be more productive by focusing on the work that was so important that it had to get done.  Especially the work that needed to be done by me.  

I became focused on the work that only I could do, and I didn't allow anything to stand in my way of getting it done effectively and of high quality. 

3. God and my team took care of the rest - This was due to a book I read entitled, Choosing to Cheat by Andy Stanley.  It totally changed the way I looked at the balance between my work and life.  I began to make family more of a priority, and work came second.  And in making work my second priority, I learned to trust God and my team to take care of the work I couldn't do.

This takes major trust as a leader and a follower of Christ.  I have learned to allow Him to take care of the work I can't get done and to allow Him to make the big things happen that I normally would make happen with pure hard work and motivation. 

Learning to trust my team to do the rest puts a big burden on them.  It causes them to have to be competent and effective in making things happen that I normally would see through all the way until the end.  I had to learn to let go, allow them to do the work, give them some of the credit in the process, and to trust them overall to make it all happen.

This past year of learning to take one day off a week has been a real stretch, but it has freed me up to be more productive and enjoy more time with family.  I encourage you to do the same.

Question: Have you had a similar experience where you began to work less?

Quotes from my desk (part 2)

Here's part 2 of my writing about the four quotes I keep on my desk. To read yesterday's quote, go here.

"Remember, you're only responsible to what God asks of you, no more! And if he asks it of you, He will also provide the way." - Jennifer McLaughlin

Jennifer has a lot of influence on my being that she's my girlfriend. So the words she speaks to me have more weight than what other people might say.

Jennifer left this quote as some encouragement to me on my Facebook page last November. At that time I was responsible for leading A Day of Hope, a project where we had committed to feed 350 families for Thanksgiving.

It's a pretty heavy burden considering that A Day of Hope is a volunteer based organization that has no staff. I'm the unofficial leader who did my best to organize people and events to raise funds, gather food, and raise awareness for our cause.

I had left a comment on my Facebook page saying how I was feeling a little overwhelmed and burnt out, and Jennifer replied with her words above. A little encouragement was something I really needed to hear at that time.

Learnings from Alaska

This holiday season I spent two entire weeks with my immediate family in Alaska.

It was very enjoyable with lots of time with family, and a little bit of creative working on the side. I chose to place family first on my priorities while there (as it is most of the time in my normal work week), and only worked if I had a little extra time, or if the family was watching a TV show I didn't care for (I'm not much for reality shows).

On my last days there, I realized I had learned a few things during my time. Even though I wasn't doing a ton of reading or a whole lot of writing, I made some new distinctions which I wanted to share with you.

Here are my, Learnings from Alaska:

• We all have a gift to give Jesus for his birthday - This came from a message I heard from Pastor Brian Miller. He gave the message a few weeks before Christmas, and the last question he asked before he ended his message was, What present will you give to Jesus for his birthday? Man, that got me thinking, and I realized that the greatest gift I could give to Jesus was my quiet, undivided attention to him.
• Time away renews our strength - At the end of 2009, I really felt burnt out. I could sense that my body didn't quite feel right, and my mind wasn't as clear and strong as normal. It was tough to deal with cause I normally perform at a pretty high level in my work. I demand a lot out of myself and when I'm not performing at 100 percent, it really shows and I know it. As I took time away, I could feel my strength start to return and become better. I started to feel more centered and more aligned with who I am and what I stand for.
• When with family, be with family - Earlier I shared with you a little bit about how I make family my top priority. As I went to Alaska, I brought all kinds of work I could have done. Lots of books to read, articles to write, events to plan. But most of it didn't get touched while I was there. I committed to be with family both in body and mind. I had traveled 3,000 miles to visit them, and I wanted to make sure I gave them my undivided attention. So I only worked if I was up early before anyone else was awake or if they were watching a TV show I didn't care for.

Leaders are Patiently Impatient

Leaders are patiently impatient.

Patient in the area that they are persistent and committed to an outcome or goal. But are impatient in the area that they want the outcome and goal to be done as soon as possible.

Dirty Running Shoes

For Christmas Santa Claus brought me a new pair of running shoes. I usually prefer Converse, but this Christmas he brought me some Nike’s.

It’s only four months after Christmas and those shoes are new longer new. By many people’s standards they are ready to be replaced. They’re dirty, worn out, and as you probably guessed they smell like sweaty feet.

I recently wrote a post titled, Beaten, Scared, Tired, & Torn talking about how I want to make it to heaven sliding in head first. Worn out and beaten having used every single once of energy in my body.

That’s what a leader does—he gives it everything he’s got and a little bit more. He doesn’t hold anything back, he puts himself on the line where he can be vulnerable. He gives every ounce of effort, energy, and enthusiasm for his cause in hopes of having an impact on the world.

When a leader is wearing and burning himself out, this is shared with others. Hard work and dedication is contagious and it’s easily transferred to others.

I hope you wear out yourself as I’ve worn out my running shoes, and I hope you inspire others to do the same along the way.

Running Out of Gas

In my new eBook I'm working on a chapter which talks about young leaders and how they often run out of gas. When you a€™re in your car and you run out of gas, what do you do? You stop! Young leaders have to find more gas before they run out, which is what happened to me last week.

Last week was an extremely difficult work week for me; I had four days where I had worked 13+ hours a day. I would leave my apartment around 6am and not return until 7pm or 8pm.  It was an extremely long, tiring, and difficult work week.

As young leaders we are not going to make an impact based on our job title and good looks! We must give our best effort, and then give a little more.  Last week I could feel that my body was getting tired and that I was starting to wear out a little bit.  So I acknowledged it and decided I was going to have to push through and continue to crank out work and ideas.  I had to dig deep and reach for a little reserve.

I'm writing this at 6am on a Saturday morning following that work week, and I'm still going strong!

Beaten, Scared, Tired, & Torn

I usually don’t write about my faith very often but tonight is an exception.  Hopefully it’s a long time until I stand before God, but when I meet him I hope that I’m beaten, worn out, tired, and exhausted with dark bags under my eyes. I know I won’t be arriving in an Armani suit with my shoes shined looking wonderful and handsome. 

My mission is to always give 100 percent of my best effort to serve and help other people: this translates into working long hours, late nights, early mornings (I’m a morning person who is up at 5am everyday) and long weekends. This past week I worked four 13+ hour work days. Many days I left my apartment at 6am, and didn’t return until almost 8pm. 

However, I love what I do and I would gladly do it for free  I’m writing this at 9:45 on a Friday night, after I drank coffee with a business lady at Starbucks at 6:30am, went into the office and worked until 4:30pm, drank tea with a Network Marketer at Starbucks at 5pm, then I stopped by the church [enclave link] to work on our Maximum Impact flyers, went home, ran for 30 minutes, cooked some food, and here I am.