What tells you that your inner batteries are running low?
Being introverted and/or sensitive, we get drained by external stimulation. People, busy environments, events. This is different from extroverts, who need to seek out and plug into the external world when their energy levels are low.
There is no better or worse way of creating energy. These are just our natural orientation. But understanding our temperamental preferences is a keystone if we want to learn how to function at an optimum level as an individual.
Whether we are introverted or extroverted, one of the things we can do is learn to recognise the signs that we need to recharge the batteries. Because when we’re running on low we put ourselves at risk of overwhelm, increased stress, and ultimately, burnout.

At a surface level we might know when we’re drained. We feel tired, hungry, or unable to concentrate. But it’s not always obvious, especially to ourselves, when we are attempting to run on empty.
We might not realise that certain behaviours, thought processes, or attitudes, have crept in. It can be insidious. And ways of seeing and feeling the world can feel like the truth. When they are really just a reflection of the state our batteries are in.
Recharge The Collective Battery
This doesn’t just impact us as individuals. It is contagious. Low batteries are catching. And before you know it you can end up with a whole family, community, or society, who are showing signs of low batteries. And I would say this feels truer today than I’ve ever known it before.
Change, as ever starts with us. Self-awareness. Stopping. Listening. Observing. Reflecting. What is happening that tells me I need to recharge my batteries right now?
This stuff is vital. The creation of energy lies at the heart of our positive drive. If we are constantly acting from a place of energetic debt, we will lose our sense of meaning, fun, and curiosity. We will lose perspective, and live in a state of fatalism, irritability, and hostility towards others. Ultimately, overtime, we will lose ourselves and our natural ways of showing up.
We just become a collection of empty vessels, rattling around, and bumping into one another.
When society appears like this, it’s not a reflection of how things are. It’s a reflection of how poorly we are managing ourselves and our energy. How poorly we are at nurturing and cultivating the stuff that matters most. It’s a sign that we have our priorities completely out of whack.
Batteries Are There To Be Used (and charged)
Devices have batteries so that we can use them unplugged. They are built to be used with their own self-contained power generator, away from a more abundant source of energy. They don’t need to be plugged in all the time (doing so de-conditions the battery and renders it ineffective and ultimately useless), but they can’t stay unplugged all the time (eventually the battery will deplete and the thing will stop working).
We can use take this metaphor and run with it. Humans are the same. We have compelling personal projects, relationships, jobs etc, for which we need and want to unplug. We show up and step in, knowing that we will require energy to complete them. And that’s OK. In fact, it’s where we find those moments of meaning and purpose for our lives, and generate passion for stuff that matters to us.
But even the most fulfilling, life-affirming activities and relationships, will cause our batteries to drain. We need to recharge, and we need to pre-charge. Just like you do with your phone when you’re taking it out and about. You take it to use it. But you would do so with the battery level in mind, charging it before you leave. And if needs be working out a plan to keep it charged if you’re going to be a...