5 Steps to Help You Retreat From Stress

Lonnie Pacelli is an Accenture/Microsoft veteran with four decades of learnings under his belt. He frequently writes and speaks on leadership, project management, work/life balance, and disability inclusion. Reach him at [email protected] and see more at ProjectManagementAdvisor.com.

  Career Development  

One Monday morning, Kyle showed up for a status meeting with his project team. Eva, a team member and close friend, noticed a pattern: Kyle looked perpetually exhausted. Concerned, she approached him, “Kyle, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a hectic weekend with kids’ activities and prepping for the exec meeting this week.”

“I certainly understand,” Eva said. “Are you taking time to rest up? I know how demanding your life is right now.”

“I’ve got great work/life balance. It’s just very busy with everything going on,” Kyle said.

“Kyle, you remind me of my father. Always running at 100 miles an hour, thinking that ‘work/life balance’ by default meant rest. That was until he had a heart attack, caused by all the stress of trying to keep up. Rather than deciding to get some rest, the decision was made for him. Work/life balance doesn’t guarantee rest.”

Kyle paused for a moment, reflecting on Eva’s advice. “I hear you.”

“Be careful, I’m concerned about you.” Eva smiled at Kyle and walked back to her desk.

*** *** ***

Merriam-Webster outlines eight intransitive verb definitions for the word rest, as follows:

1. To get rest by lying down
2. To cease from action or motion: refrain from labor or exertion
3. To sit or lie fixed…

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