My husband bought new batteries for our laptops this week. In the beginning I was supposed to charge it up to 100% and then let the battery drain until 10% and repeat this 3 more times. This is in order to teach the laptop what the usual battery life is. The first time I did it, I was paying good attention, all until the end when I got distracted with other activities. Bam! The laptop blacked out and turned off! “Shoot!” I thought, “I ruined the battery!” My husband explained that, yes, it is best practices to charge the laptop in this way when you first get it, but I didn’t ruin the battery just by messing up this one time. It’s not like I did it many times.
This taught me two things:
1-There is best practices, and then there is reality, and if life happens and veers me off of best practices once in a while, IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.
This can apply to any and all areas of life where I do my best to keep on schedule but inevitably cannot be 100% perfect, and that is OK.
2 – How many times do I run myself ragged to 0% instead of starting to recharge my battery at 10%?
This 10% model can be useful in quantifying a lesson I learn and re-learn regularly: the importance of being attuned to one’s energy levels, as well as one’s hunger and one’s thirst, and not waiting until one gets to the absolute bottom of the bowl before recharging or refueling.
When I allow myself to get to 0%, it takes me a while before I can really reboot and regain where I was. Better to catch myself at 10% (or even 20%) and take the self-care actions I need to replenish myself and stay in the game.
Mindful Nuggets 