Reimagine: Your Connection to Your Body

Welcome to Work Reimagined, the newsletter where we reimagine the way we work and live.

This week’s newsletter is all about reimagining our connection to our bodies.

In 2022, I did a joint webinar with Alyx Cobles-Frakes, founder of The Agenda., called “The Power of Cycle Syncing: How your body clock and menstrual cycle impact your presence at work.” But the power of understanding the natural rhythms of our bodies isn’t just for women and people who menstruate.

A few key takeaways for any of us who could benefit from being in better touch with our bodies: 

• Every body operates with natural rhythms that affect how effectively they work

• Understanding your body’s cycles can help you avoid burnout and work more sustainably

• Together, the ChronoPace, ultradian cycles, and cycle syncing have the power to unlock a better way for you to work

Read on–even if you’re not a person who menstruates!–to learn how you can reimagine your schedule to work more in line with the natural rhythms of your body. (You’ll find your weekly action item marked with a ⭐ below!)

There are three types of cycles I want to discuss in today’s newsletter: your ChronoPace (a way to apply your ChronoType to your work schedule), ultradian cycles, and menstrual cycles. While the latter will only apply to some readers, the first two apply to everyone.

#1. Know Your ChronoPace

The human body operates on a 24-hour internal clock. You sleep, wake up, and experience a rhythm of energy peaks and valleys over the course of the day. And while no two people operate on the exact same internal clock, there are four chronotypes or categories that most individuals fall into: early morning, mid-morning, afternoon, and evening/late night.

Understanding your ChronoPace can help you schedule times for deep work (focus), and times of collaboration/creativity. 

Don’t know your ChronoPace? Take the free quiz here!

#2. Leverage Your Ultradian Cycles

In addition to your chronotype, your body also cycles through 90-120-minute activity-rest periods called ultradian cycles. Taken together, your ChronoPace and ultradian cycles help identify the best times of day to perform different tasks based on your optimal mood, energy, and focus.

The takeaway: If you know your peak energy times, you can plan for 90 minutes of really good energy and focus aligned with those peaks. You’ll also know when you need to take a break in the day to honor those “valleys” of low energy and creativity.

#3. Cycle Syncing

As you can learn in my webinar with The Agenda., people who menstruate also have monthly peaks and valleys of energy based on hormonal fluctuations. 

There are four phases of the menstrual cycle: menstrual, follicular, ovulation, and luteal. Your body releases different hormones at different times, impacting your energy levels and moods.

When you understand these cycles, you can use your awareness to inform which activities to pursue when.

#4. Cycles Meet Real Life (and ⭐ this is your action point for this newsletter ⭐)

We live in an “always-on” society. Many folks aren’t thinking about (or realistically able to) accommodating their (or someone else’s) natural cycles. 

But even knowing where you are can help you adapt what is happening in that moment.

For example:

• I’m an Early-Morning ChronoPacer. My energy peaks are from about 5-10am every day; and, I track my menstrual cycle. 

• This means 7pm when I’m in my luteual phase is the danger zone for my energy and temperament. I try my best to not be “primary parent” during that window. (And if I know I have to be, I fortify myself ahead of time with some meditation (and chocolate).)

Take the ChonoPace test and watch the Cycle Syncing webinar. Find one activity that you can slot into a better time for yourself. 

You’ll be glad you did!

Working Well and Living Well

Sakura - “the impermanence of life”

If you’ve been around this newsletter for a while, you know that I share this story every year:

Andy picked me up for our third date with a full Japanese breakfast in the car and we went down to the Tidal Basin to sit under the cherry blossom trees and have breakfast. (He had lived in Japan for a few years and introduced me to a tradition from their culture.)

Since then, it’s become a family tradition of ours, and we have lots of fun sipping tea and eating Onigiri (sushi rice with various things mixed in, shaped into triangles) and Tamagoyaki (a Japanese rolled omelet) under the cherry trees. 

There’s a whole lot going on in this picture collage here:

• The prep the night before - it’s a fair amount of work, and the kids are now of the age where they’re helpful making the Onigiri and Tamagoyaki; mating the chopsticks; and prepping the thermoses for tea

• We always invite a gaggle of family and friends - if you’re in town we’d love to have you join us!

• Our crew of six

• Each year I get a portrait of the four kids - it reminds me of the impermanence of my life and their lives

Keep reimagining!

Elizabeth

P.S. Follow me on LinkedIn for more insight about reimagining how we work and live, including creative ways to use our natural rhythms and cycles to work better and stop burnout!