For many of us, the only way we have known to operate is to work non stop until we reach the holiday.
But after years of doing that I think many of us are starting to realise that the excess work we have to do before we go, combined with the extra work we have to do when we return, make holidays a poor form of recovery.
There is another way that a lot of people are only just starting to discover. Micro forms of recovery are often simple, easy and can completely change our energy and kick burn out to the kerb.
In this episode I share:
- Why micro recovery strategies are low hanging fruit for high performing individuals
- What a micro recovery strategy actually is
- How to apply them into your life
- The benefit of including these in helping to prevent burnout
- Some of the ways I am seeing people trying to make changes this year
- Why the old way of high performing and recovering on a holiday isn’t working anymore
- The restorative benefits of micro recovery
- The advantages of micro recovery strategies
- The ultradian rhythm and 90 minute work cycles
- The exhausting way many of us start our weeks
- 6 strategies that you can call on as micro forms of recovery
- A personal example of how a house set up can influence your micro recovery
- My personal example of how I put in boundaries with my phone
Key Quotes
“For many, holidays don’t seem to do the trick anymore”
“Often the workload we scramble to wrap up before leaving and the mountain of work that greets us when we return can make the whole holiday thing seem a bit pointless.”
“Eating lunch away from your work area can significantly improve you mood and cognitive function.”
Episode Resources
Jessica Spendlove Website – www.jessicaspendlove.com
Jessica Spendlove Keynotes – JessicaspendloveKeynotes – Jessica Spendlove
The High-Performance Profile Quiz https://jessicaspendlove.com/quiz/
Jess Spendlove Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jess_spendlove_dietitian/?hl=en
Jess Spendlove LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-spendlove-64173bb8/
About Your Host
Jessica Spendlove | Wellbeing Speaker & High Performance Strategist
Jess Spendlove is an international wellbeing and high performance speaker, coach, and advisor. With over 15 years of experience across corporate leadership, elite sport and the military she is known for helping ambitious leaders and teams optimise energy, build resilience, and sustain peak performance.
As one of Australia’s leading performance dietitians and a trusted voice in executive wellbeing, Jess delivers science-backed strategies that empower individuals, teams and organisations to thrive under pressure and achieve long-term success.
Episode Transcript
The following transcript has been automatically generated and not checked for accuracy
Jess (00:02.326)
Welcome back to another episode of Stay at the Top. Today, we’re exploring what micro recovery strategies are. Now, I see these as an incredibly low hanging fruit for so many high performing individuals. While a lot of people are out there addressing their non-negotiable behaviors, which you all know is, while a lot of people are out there improving their nutrition, their sleep,
looking at their training, their blend of cardio and resistance training. They’re looking to harness, they’re looking to incorporate saunas and ice baths for their, they’re looking to incorporate saunas and ice baths into their wellness routines. One area that is really getting overlooked and neglected, one area getting,
One area getting overlooked and neglected are micro recovery strategies. Now in today’s episode I’m going to talk about what is a micro recovery strategy, how you can apply it into your life, the benefit of including these in helping to prevent burnout.
Jess (01:21.234)
And so the benefit of including micro recovery strategies into your life to prevent burnout and so much more. Now, for the last 15 years, I’ve worked with high performing individuals in a variety of arenas from sport to military to business. And I’ve seen three common profiles. There’s the overachiever.
the all or nothing human or the ticking time bomb. Now, depending on where each person is at in their journey will depend on what their right next step is. If you’re curious to know if you’re an overachiever, an all or nothing, if you’re curious to know which profile you are and what your right next step is, take the high performance profile quiz which you can find the link in my show notes. Now,
Let’s get into today’s episode talking micro recovery strategies.
Jess (00:10.134)
We’re a few weeks into the new year and I know the majority of people are looking to do 2024 differently. They want a new way of being and a new momentum. This is the year that they… This is the year they will prioritise themselves, that they will prioritise their wellbeing and their performance and they won’t run the risk of burnout or even… They won’t run the risk of burnout or run themselves into the ground.
With the clients I work with and the circles that I’m in, I’m seeing people are starting to take more interest in certain areas of their wellbeing. For some people that might be in what they eat, for others it might be the types of training they’re doing or how often they’re moving, striking that balance between cardio resistance training, striking the balance between cardio and resistance training for optimal wellbeing now.
while also considering their longevity as well. For others, it’s about improving their sleep, whether that’s putting boundaries in place, looking at protocols that can optimize their sleep, creating a sleep routine. And for others, it’s about looking at strategies to, and for others, it’s about looking at using.
And for others, it’s about looking at using saunas and cold water immersions or ice baths for the immediate or longevity benefits which come from applying these strategies.
Jess (01:48.082)
Ideally, ideally when it comes to optimizing, well, I…
Ideally as we layer in and optimize these areas of our wellbeing and our performance, we start to build on them. We start to gain momentum and we start to layer in more strategies. Now, everything I’ve mentioned there, ideally are areas that we would look to improve over a period of time. And with the coaching clients that I work with for six, 12 months or longer, these are all areas we look to optimize. But one thing I’ve started to see
But one area I’ve started to see as a very low hanging fruit for every single human out there One area I’ve seen as a low hanging fruit is looking
to implement micro recovery into your day. Now, micro recovery is about inserting short, regular and consistent bouts of recovery, which allow people to recover on the run every single day. A key to prevent…
Jess (03:00.478)
A key in preventing burnout is the practice of…
Jess (03:15.042)
Burnout is something many people have experienced or know people that have. And we need to look at how we can put strategies in place that are going to prevent burnout. Gone are the days where we can just approach our wellbeing and lead with the mentality that I have a holiday in three months, I’m just going to push myself and I’ll relax then. That strategy doesn’t work in 2024. With more act…
Jess (03:48.754)
I’m not sure about you, but that strategy certainly hasn’t worked for me in previous years and I know many of my clients feel the same. I’m not sure if you feel the same, but for many, holidays don’t seem to do the trick anymore. Within a matter of a few days or a week, you’re back at work and it hits you. It feels like you never really had a break.
The problem with this is because we’ve lost touch on what it feels like to truly switch off. By the time we actually start to relax, it’s almost time to head back. And it turns out that two or even three weeks away often boil down to only a handful of restful days. In the lead up to going on holidays, we’re often scrambling to prepare the work or finish the projects or, you know, we’re often, we’re often…
We’re often pushing to finish work, tie up projects, leave handover, which often can mean longer days, less breaks and increased workload as we prepare to take our holiday.
Jess (05:13.68)
Often the workload that we scramble to wrap up before leaving and the mountain of work that greets us as we return can often make the whole holiday thing seem a little bit pointless. What we really need to do is get smarter about using our time off so that we can come back feeling genuinely refreshed.
This is why today I wanna talk to you about restorative benefits of micro recovery. Now, there is huge value in incorporating small moments of recovery into your work and personal life. Micro recovery strategies are really about inserting short, regular, and consistent bouts of recovery, which allow you to restore, refill your cup, and recover on the run.
Now, the best thing about micro recovery strategies are there are an abundance of options out there. So it really is about you thinking about what you like, what is easy for you to implement, and where you might like to start. So today, I really want to zoom in on strategies that you can and should look at each day to add into your life. Now today’s episode was inspired by
many of the conversations that I’ve been having with people on social media when I share micro recovery strategies that I have in my life. So these are things like the brain breaks that I take on most days and they might come in the form of
Now, today’s episode was inspired off many of the conversations that I’ve been having on social media when I share some of my micro recovery strategies. So for those following, you may have seen me posting about my brain breaks, which is breaks in my day where I step away from my computer, technology, and reset and refresh. Now, not every day looks the same. And even though I know how valuable they are.
Jess (07:20.146)
Now, not every day looks the same for me, and there’s a number of reasons for that. Some days I’m able to get more brain breaks in than others. Other days, some days I’m able to get more brain breaks in than others, and this is dependent on the type of day, the amount of work I have to cover, whether it’s a client facing day, or whether it’s a behind the scenes business administration or project based day. It also depends on if I’m at home or in the office. There’s so many…
There’s so many variables. I share this with you so you know that despite being someone who understands the science, is evidence-based, lives and breathes what she talks about, there are days where I’m not able to execute on everything that I intend to. So this is why we need to get rid of the perfection over progress mentality, and we also need to get over the whole we’ll just start on Monday.
We’ll just start on Monday movement. Let’s start today. Let’s do what we can. Micro recovery is one of those areas where it will compound. Micro recovery strategies are one area of wellbeing that we can do at any time point.
Jess (08:43.21)
And the best bit, the inexpensive, the best bit is the inexpensive and there are so many different ways that you can apply them. Now, when we look at micro recovery, we can look at it in terms of daily, weekly and monthly strategies. But today, I really wanted to zoom in on the daily practices as these are truly transformative.
Jess (09:18.026)
Now, I’m not sure how many people out there employ different methods of working. There are a range of strategies. So time batching, working in different cycles, using the Pomodoro technique. So depending on how you like to work.
Jess (09:38.182)
ignore that whole section there about how people work.
Jess (10:02.11)
Now before we move into exploring some of the strategies that you can apply, I want to talk to you or introduce something to you which you may or may not have heard of which is called the Ultradian Rhythm. Now this is about looking at working in 90 minute cycles. This research suggests that our brains operate best with bursts of high focus followed by short breaks.
The 90 minute work cycle aligns with our natural ultradian rhythm, which is about enhancing productivity and preventing mental fatigue. Now, ultradian rhythms exist between sleep and wake hours and present a pattern of focused and rest. These are not to be confused with circadian rhythms, which is looking at our 24 hour cycle, where ultradian rhythms look at 90 minute cycles of high activity,
followed by a short period of rest.
Jess (11:12.35)
Working in these cycles allow us to align our body with optimal focus and energy. And then during the downtime or the trough, which lasts for around 20 minutes, we have an opportunity to refresh and reset, which is the prime opportunity to introduce a brain break and some micro recovery strategies. Now the key during the 20 minutes of down, now the key during the 20 minutes.
Now, during the 20 minutes, this is really your opportunity for some micro recovery, which might look a little bit different depending on morning, afternoon, lunchtime, if you’re working at home, if you’re working in the office. But the best thing is, as long as you’re aware of these practices, you can start to align your day and be intentional. And you can start to align your day.
Be intentional and look at what is going to work for you on that day, in that moment. It doesn’t mean you have to do the same micro recovery strategies every single day. It is about having a range of options and starting to apply them. Now, what most of us do is we feel fresh on a Monday, we sit down, we smash out a whole heap of work, we’re feeling really productive, and then come Tuesday or Wednesday, we really start to notice that those pro…
we really start to notice that our productivity and our focus dips. I can definitely attest to that. This is how I used to work. I would come in on a Monday and I would do a super long day and I would just sit at my computer and probably do a few days worth of work in one day and then come Tuesday or Wednesday, I was really noticing that mental fatigue.
Jess (13:03.559)
This is when I came across the concept of the ultradian rhythm and it’s something I’ve started to apply within my life. Now, do I do it every single day? No. Do I aim for it most days? Yes. When I apply it, do I feel benefits with sustaining my focus and productivity and energy? Yes. Is this the only strategy that’s going to enhance our focus, productivity and energy? No. This is part of it. But.
The reason I wanted to talk about this here today in isolation is because it is a low hanging fruit. It is a low barrier to entry, it is a low cost, and it’s also something not many people are doing very well.
Jess (13:56.906)
So we now understand the concept of the ultradian rhythm, which is what I’m basing a lot of these work cycles off. Working for 90 minutes, resting, recovering in some way, shape or form for 20 minutes. In that 20 minutes, what that doesn’t include is looking for stimulation, which comes in the form of caffeine, sugar or technology. What we’re wanting to do in those 20 minutes is rest, restore and recover.
We want to step away from technology. We want to, if possible, get out in nature and move, but when not possible, utilize other strategies like meditation, breathing. Use other strategies like meditation and breathing.
Jess (15:01.986)
So here are six strategies that you can call on to use as micro forms of recovery to.
Jess (15:15.714)
help restore your energy levels, your focus, your productivity, and to prevent burnout. The first strategy is a few minutes of deep breathing. Now, deep breathing exercises can quickly reduce stress levels, lower blood pressure, and promote a sense of calm. Incorporating these brief pauses into your day
helps reset your stress response. Now, when I interviewed Shanna Kennedy, she spoke about every time she washes her hands, taking a moment to have three deep breaths. For myself, every…
Jess (15:57.994)
For myself, I like to take a few breaks each and every day where I will sit for one to two minutes and just focus on my breathing. Now, where possible, I do that away from my desk, but if I’m at my office or if I’m on the move at meetings, or if I’m on the move at meetings or presenting to teams or workplaces, it is something that I do wherever I can.
All that involves is sitting for one minute or two minutes and just focusing on your breath. Notice how quickly you’re breathing. Notice the depth of your breath. Are you breathing shallow or are you doing deep belly breathing? What is happening to your mind? Is it racing? It’s really about just taking time, pausing, taking a few deep breaths.
and giving yourself some space. Another micro recovery strategy you might like to implement is either meditation or non-sleep deep rest. Now…
The benefits of both are similar, but potentially what you’re able to apply to, but depending on where you work, the availability of using these strategies might be a little bit different. So for myself, when I’m at my office, there is a meditation space there. So that feels like something that I can achieve and do, and I feel more comfortable sitting in the meditation space and just taking 10 to 15 minutes.
to listen to a meditation and take 10 or 15 minutes to listen to a meditation. However, when I’m using, when I’m listening to a specific non-sleep deep rest meditation, I often do that when I am at home. And that is because I like to lie down for that specific meditation practice. Sometimes I, where I live, I live very close to the botanical gardens in the city. So sometimes I will take a rug and I will sit
Jess (18:07.882)
and sometimes I will take a rug, lie under a tree and listen to a non-sleep deep rest recording there. So for me I feel a lot more comfortable doing that when I’m at home.
or in a situation like where I’m able to go to the botanical gardens rather than lying down in the meditation room when I’m at my office, each to their own. It’s not saying that you can’t do that, but again it’s just looking at, okay, well, what are my options and how might I be able to use some of these strategies within my day? The third one, which is one of…
Jess (18:48.61)
The third strategy is looking at a brain break. Now, technically all of these strategies I’m talking about here today can be considered as brain breaks, but in the context of today’s conversation, what I’m referring to as a brain break, which is a term that I’ve just coined, and I love seeing people posting about their brain breaks and tagging me, so when you take one, please do that. It makes me feel, please do that. I absolutely love to see it.
But a brain break is where you get outside, you’re technology free, and you move your body for 10, 15, or 20 minutes. That might be a brisk walk around the block, or around the city, or around the harbor, or if you’re close to the beach, near the beach. Whatever you’ve got access to, or wherever you are, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you get outside, you get some fresh air, you’re in nature, you’re technology free, and you move your body.
This is definitely one of my most favorite ways to employ a micro recovery strategy into my day and I really feel and see the benefits with my mental focus and my productivity and the reduction of mental fatigue when I implement these in the morning and the afternoon.
The fourth micro recovery strategy that you can use is having lunch away from your desk and preferably if possible, getting outside. It’s so easy to have a quick 10 minute lunch at your desk while you’re doing some emails and you’re not being present in the moment. Not only are you not giving yourself time to focus on eating and you may be eating mindlessly.
but you’re also not taking that opportunity to cognitively restore and reset for the afternoon. Eating lunch away from your work area and spending time outdoors can significantly improve your mood and your cognitive function. This break in the environment reduces the mental fatigue and also can boost your productivity. So I know a lot of people can fall victim to having lunch at the desk.
Jess (20:58.518)
This is something that in 2024, we wanna put a boundary in place and it’s something that we’re going to commit to. It’s a reward for ourself. It’s a reward for our brain and your focus and your productivity and your energy. We’ll thank you.
Jess (21:18.838)
The fifth strategy is that we’re going, the fifth micro recovery strategy that we’re going to look at today is having an end of day switch off routine. This is about establishing a routine to mark the end of your workday. This might be tidying your desk, this might be a short meditation, this might be shutting down your computer and packing it away. Whatever it might be, it’s about signaling to your brain that it’s now time to rest.
This helps to create a clear boundary between work and personal time and can, this helps to create a clear boundary between work and personal time, which is really critical in helping you top your, this is really critical in helping you prioritize your mental wellbeing and aiding in mental recovery.
Jess (22:22.195)
my new apartment.
At the apartment that I currently live in with my partner, we are in a furnished apartment, which I won’t be doing again, which I won’t be doing again. But for now, it works. The thing with the current apartment that we’re in is it’s a two bedroom unit, but within the bedrooms are two large king beds. So in our previous apartment…
I was able to have the second bedroom as my office, but in this current short term, but in this current one, which will be in for another few months, my desk is in the living room. Now, I know a lot of people in COVID.
Jess (23:10.622)
Now, having the desk in the living room space is not ideal for a few reasons. One, it really blends relaxation and recovery with work, which isn’t great for helping create that boundary. So I do also have an office which I go to most days, at least for a few hours so I can break things up, but there are things…
but there is a lot of work that I often need to do at home. So for me, having an end of day routine where I’m switching off, where I’m shutting the computer down, where I’m putting it away, has really helped me draw that boundary. Otherwise it’s so easy for me to be in the kitchen, which then I can see the living room and I can see my laptop and my desk and my laptop just…
my desk and my laptop are calling me. And next minute I’m back on the computer or I’m sending emails or I’m just wasting time, which then cognitively I’m not getting that mental recovery. So for some of you that situation may not be relevant, but I just wanted to share how this practice has really helped me put that boundary in place. And when I don’t do that, it’s incredible the amount of times that I’m just drawn back to the computer.
The last strategy I wanna touch on here today is around having, the last strategy which is, the last strategy which is a great continuation point from the one I’ve just mentioned is about having boundaries with your phone and technology. Setting limits on technology use, especially in the mornings and the evening, especially in the evening can improve sleep quality and reduce stress.
The blue light from screens can interfere with your circadian rhythm, blocking that melatonin production, which is that sleep hormone. When we, which is that sleep hormone. So disconnecting helps your body prepare for rest. Another boundary I would encourage you to look at is to not have your phone in the bedroom. This is something I’ve been doing for years and it has made a huge difference.
Jess (25:24.074)
My phone stays in the kitchen, therefore I’m not tempted to doom scroll in the evening blocking that melatonin production and I’m also not tempted to wake up first thing in the morning and check my emails. Your brain is at its most creative first thing in the morning and the last thing you want to do is have that time taken up by other people’s lives, by the media, by…
The last thing you want is for that to be taken up by emails, other people’s lives or the media. That time should be sacred time for yourself. That time should be used to set your day up for success. Whether that is meditating, moving, journaling, whatever it might be. Maybe it’s a combination of all of those things. But use that time.
But consider that time sacred time, protected time. And if you can’t help but wake up and check your phone first thing in the morning, remove it. I know that was me, I used to do that. I used to wake up in the morning, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, emails. It’s like this cycle that I would just do. I had trained my brain to want to do that. I couldn’t break that cycle on my own. So what did I do? I changed.
What did I do? I removed the phone from the situation. Not only did that improve my sleep, but it also allowed me to focus on that morning routine and really set my day up for success.
Jess (27:08.927)
So there we have it, six micro recovery strategies you might like to explore. To recap a little bit, a key, so team, to recap a little bit, a key in preventing burnout is the practice of short, regular, but consistent bursts of recovery, which include practices and strategies that you have daily.
Gone are the days of pushing for months until we’ve got the holiday as that doesn’t work or serve us in the way that it used to. Where the magic truly happens is in adding regular daily practices. So
Where the magic happens is in adding regular and daily micro recovery strategy practices like the six that I have mentioned here today. So what I would love each of you to do is to think about one of the micro recovery strategies that you can implement within your day.
Better yet, if you currently have one, I would like you to identify another one or two that you can have in the mix that you can implement. Whether you rotate them through, whether you have strategies for whether you’re at home, in the office, out meeting clients, whatever your day might look like, the consistency of what we wanna do is apply micro recovery strategies, but the flexibility is having a few options that we can go between. High performing habits like this,
The high performing habits like micro recovery strategies as well as sleep optimization and leveraging the power of nutrition for optimal performance and energy are topics that I speak and run workshops on regularly with corporate teams, organizations, or even at conferences. So if this is of interest to you, your team or your business, please reach out as I would love to discuss your objectives.
Jess (29:08.414)
and what sessions I have available or what could be curated to your needs. Team, if you’ve liked today’s episode, I’d absolutely love for you to share it with a friend, a loved one or a colleague. If you haven’t yet hit subscribe, don’t forget to do that so you don’t miss out on the weekly episode. And for those who regularly listen and enjoy the podcast, it would mean so much to me if you would rate and review it.
I read each and every single one and it really helps me keep going and creating content that you find valuable.
Jess (29:47.178)
That’s it for this week. I can’t wait to see and hear the micro recovery strategies that you implement into your life. And until then, and I can’t wait to see and hear the micro recovery strategies that you implement into your life to help you stay at the top.