How to build resilience
Recharging so you can do what you do best.
Hi there,
Each month, the Bunch team has what we call a “Pit Stop Day.” 🏎 It falls on the second Friday of the month, and it’s when the entire team shuts down for just one day.
What the team does on that day is completely up to them. Some spend time with friends or family, some work on some passion projects, and others spend the day learning or catching up at a slower pace on tasks.
We introduced this day not to create a random vacation day in the middle of the month, but because we realized that the team rarely rests unless we all rest. And how good your team is at recharging is directly related to how resilient they are. By taking the full day off as a team, we practice collective self-care so that we can recharge and return to doing what we do best!
The Pit Stop Day wasn’t our first attempt at helping protect the team from burnout and build our resilience. It took (and continues to take) a lot of effort to solve that problem when working with a high-performance team.
But it got me thinking that sometimes the reason we don’t rest/recharge enough is that we haven’t found sustainable ways to do it that work for us and our teams. So I dug into some resources on how to build resilience by finding the right ways to rest that work for you:
How to recharge and build resilience 💪
👉 Resilience is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure by Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan
Top Takeaways: To build resilience at work, you need both internal and external recovery periods. “Internal recovery refers to the shorter periods of relaxation that take place within the frames of the workday or the work setting in the form of short scheduled or unscheduled breaks, by shifting attention or changing to other work tasks when the mental or physical resources required for the initial task are temporarily depleted or exhausted. External recovery refers to actions that take place outside of work—e.g. in the free time between the workdays, and during weekends, holidays or vacations.”
👉 The Hidden Links Between Mindfulness And Happier Employees by Keith Ferrazzi
Top Takeaways: Try out a recharge day or pitstop like Bunch! Or even introduce a meditation at the beginning of your all-hands. Trying out new methods of introducing restful practices into your team-wide routines can be a great way to build resilience together.
👉 WFH affecting your mental health? It’s time to develop a post-work wind-down routine by Grace Bains
Top Takeaways: A great way to recharge is to create a regular wind-down routine. It can be as simple as a 5-min process that you do just before you sign off to leave work at work. Try creating a playlist you listen to, doing a simple meditation, or selecting a book you read a chapter of.
📰 News from Bunch
Ever wonder what leaders at Calm do to lead with patience and mindfulness? 🧘♀️🌱
Join our next AMA (Ask Me Anything) with Ellen Wong, Director of Engineering at Calm on September 15th at 6pm CEST, 12pm EST, 9am PST right in Slack! 🎉
Ellen has a track record of building effective and happy engineering teams that deliver on challenging and impactful projects.
She has great tricks up her sleeve on leading by influence and the success secrets of working with a senior team.
Join our Teams at Work community, if you have not yet. It’s free and awesome (and it’s where the AMA will be hosted for you to drop all your burning questions for Ellen!):
Tips from the Bunch AI Coach:
This week‘s tip “Balancing Your Team’s Energy Account” will help you take a long-term look at how to help your team thrive even while they’re grinding away at their tasks and projects!
Remember to ship frequent, B+ work this week!
Darja
PS:
Rest is so important. Teams make better decisions, less errors, and longevity.