If you're someone who keeps saying yes when you should say no, or who has never once thought of rest as a skill worth building, this conversation will give you a starting point that doesn't require overhauling your life. 

This is part two of a two-part crossover with the This Is Work podcast, hosted by Shelley Johnson. In this episode, Shelley and I go deep into the science-backed strategies from my new book, The Energy Game, covering all three categories: boost strategies that take less than five minutes, rest strategies that are genuinely restorative (not just fake rest on the couch), and protect strategies that stop your energy leaking in the first place. 

Because knowing you're burning out is one thing. Knowing what to actually do about it is another. 

Shelley and I discuss: 

• A surprisingly simple post-meal habit that stabilises your energy for hours 

• Why the thing most of us do to wind down at night is not actually rest 

• The acupressure technique from cancer recovery research that changed how I think about fatigue 

• What happened to my creativity when I stopped filling every quiet moment with podcasts 

• The tapping technique I used to conquer a phobia, and why it works for stress too 

• A three-question filter for deciding what to say yes to, inspired by Adam Grant 

• The worst speaking gig of my life, and the list I started that night 

Key quotes 

"Have you ever woken up in the morning and thought, 'I'm too busy to scroll Instagram today'? No. There you go. So you've got time to rest." 

"You don't have to overhaul your life to get your energy back." 

Connect with Shelley via LinkedIn, or through Boldside’s Instagram and website. For more conversations on meaningful work, sustainable success, and showing up as your best self – check out Shelley’s podcast this is work. 

If you're jumping in fresh, part one is waiting for you. We cover the warning signs of burnout, the four energy types, and why "I'm tired" isn't actually telling you much. Listen here.