When Rest Becomes Non-Negotiable
Hey, it’s me again—your friendly neighborhood completely exhausted person! I’ve been running on empty lately, and I can feel my body sending up those “we’re about to power down” warnings. So, tonight, I’m “taking the night off.” Which, let’s be honest, just means I’m not staying up until the wee hours doing all the things.
My brain is tired, my body is tired, my eyeballs are tired—everything is tired. And this is the point where I have to actually listen to myself and say, “Yep, you’re not going to be at 100% unless you take a breather. Everything else can wait, because your body? It’s not waiting.”
But before I log off and give my brain a well-deserved break, let me tell you about my day—and then I’ve got to get back to responding to some developers.
So, today was another crazy-busy but super productive day. Remember that call I mentioned with my buddy who runs a data consultancy? Well, it happened, and it was awesome. We talked for maybe 20 minutes, and he dropped a couple of gems I’d never even thought about before. Naturally, I scribbled them down, did a quick vetting session, and tossed them into my “post-MVP” folder.
After that, I spent some time catching up with developers, showered (yay for hygiene), and headed to a business school alumni holiday party. I walked into that party with a mission: talk to people, pitch my idea, get their thoughts, and see if they knew anyone who might want to be involved.
Here’s the thing about pitching an idea in a city where 65% of the population does this activity: everyone has an opinion. And what I’m learning to do is listen. Even if they’re saying stuff I already know, I’m just letting them go on and on. Why? A few reasons:
I’m kind of over talking all the time.
Their ramblings might spark an idea for me.
If we’re in a group, it’s interesting to hear how others react. That can spark something too.
Not every idea is a great idea, but even the not-so-great ones can inspire something brilliant.
Another thing I tried tonight? Reframing how I answer the classic “so, what do you do?” question. Instead of leading with my day job, I started talking about what I’m working on outside of it. I did this a couple of times, and it totally shifted the conversation to what other people are passionate about, which was pretty cool.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now. Time to let my brain and body catch up on some rest. Until next time!