This is part two of a series. Start with part one: Charge Approved: Why You Keep Saying Yes at Work.

Your meeting ends fifteen minutes early. The screen goes quiet. Extra time, and nothing planned for it.

What do I do with it? Get ahead on tomorrow? Think deeply about the big problem? Something else?

Your hand is already moving toward the inbox. I have the time. Might as well use it.

Here’s an answer: give yourself a break.

Imagine your time and energy (your effort) as an account. Every task, call and favor is a charge against it. What gets done is what the charges buy. And over time, those purchases bring you closer to your goals.

In your work, you’re the only account. Every charge draws from you.

An account needs deposits. Charges keep coming, and they don’t check what’s left. Spend without depositing and the balance runs low.

So deposits come in two kinds:

• Rest. No charges. Nothing asked of you.
• Replenishment. Whatever gives back more than it takes.

When time opens up, make a deposit. Rest now, and there’s more to draw on later, so the output keeps coming.

Better yet, set up automatic deposits. Put the downtime on the calendar. Then you don’t have to depend on scraps of time to rest and replenish. Rest becomes part of the schedule.

So next time a gap shows up and your hand starts moving toward the inbox: pause. Ask what to deposit.

Questions for reflection:

• When did you last schedule a deposit before you needed one?
• What replenishes you, and when did you last make time for it?
• What will you deposit the next time a gap opens in your day?

If this resonated, I work with leaders on exactly this kind of pattern (the one underneath the problem, not just the problem itself). Book a free discovery call to explore together.