How Do You Refresh Yourself?

I’ve been busy writing books for almost a year. (One is the Agile Practice Guide, the other is Create Your Successful Agile Project.) I wanted to finish my book. I got stuck a few weeks ago. I knew I wanted to address certain areas and I was tired. I didn’t want to sit down to write.

My “well” was too low. I didn’t have any new ideas. I needed to read more, to have a different perspective. I took a few hours off, took a walk and a nap, and read other books: mystery and romance. I refreshed myself, refilled my well of energy and ideas.

Writers aren’t the only ones who need to refresh. Everyone does.

Vacations are a great way to refresh your brain. You go someplace different. You meet different people, eat different food, maybe even try different activities. Even if you have a stay-cation, you can do something different.

I happen to enjoy reading, so I read new and different books. I like traveling and meeting new people. I, ahem, like new food, too. The more I refresh myself, the more ideas I have.

Teams can refresh their collective ideas by taking time each week to learn something. I happen to like reading books together. (I know, what a surprise.) Some other ideas: lunch-and-learns, creating Communities of Practice, presentations or question-and-answer from others across the organization.

I find that when I try something or learn something new, I see more options. I have refreshed myself. Every so often, I find serendipity.

Too often, we push. We keep pushing ourselves to achieve some milestone. At some point, we need to refresh. I often discover that when I refresh, I have much more energy to finish the thing I want to complete.

That is the question this week: How do you refresh yourself?