Oh, I just had such a few days meeting people in person in the big city - I was out in London.

And today, I am feeling the Introvert Hangover. 

Does this sound familiar to you?

Have you experienced this?

It is incredibly real.

Even though I had over 10 hours sleep last night, I am still feeling incredibly foggy and mushy in my brain.

What caused this?

I was working on my business yesterday, so that was really intensive anyway. And that's something really important for us. But today, all I need is to take time out of working in my business to work on my business.

This is how we begin to grow.

If you haven't seen me before, my name is Susanna Reay. I am an introvert. 

And being an introvert means your energy's diminish when you're with lots of people.  

Even my speaking, and my words... I'm fumbling today because I am suffering from the introvert hangover.

As an online business strategist, I know how we need to focus our energies to help us succeed and get further. 

Energy Boundaries

1. Manage your time wisely

So what I did today is I made sure that on my calendar for today there was no outward facing activities:

I blocked my calendar out to counteract for the introvert hangover. 

But I also wanted to just come on briefly, here onto my page and share with you the reality because I know sometimes everything seems shiny and bright and everyone only shares the positives in business.

I wanted to share "Yes, it is so hard for many to do these events".

But that shouldn't stop you going - you just need to manage your time around them wisely.

2. Rest up beforehand

I try and rest up as much as possible beforehand, so I can be 100% present when I'm attending.

The I recognise the fact that I also need to have the, what I call,  "fuzzy days" after, because my brain is whirling with ideas to progress on ...  the steps I need to take in my business this year. 

This trip was to a live Mastermind event, working with my coach, Chris Ducker, who's further down the line in his business, but knows what it feels like where I am at now. This is really important when you choose your business coach, it needs to be someone who you connect with, like their style but can lead the way, and show you the path that is possible.

The reality of the day after

It's just so fuzzy, fuzzy, fuzzy in my brain. And I found myself scrolling endlessly online and getting nothing done yet I have 101 things whirling around in my head...

sound familiar?

3. Prioritise Your Day

The only way to get past this is to refer to my task list and highlight what is my number one priority to get done today because I've learned to also be realistic when I'm in this big recovery period.

Gosh, you can hear it in my voice. I'm stumbling over words. I'm not normally like this, but this is what I've learned to cope with, and how to build the energy boundaries.

It's important not to fight this but to just recognise this and make sure we schedule it in our diaries, not just for the event itself that you block out, but for the following day or days.

Dependent on the length of the activity, a different amount of recovery is needed. If it's a day of activity, I need a day recover. If it's a three day conference, I would need three days to recover fully.

A note here, these may not be holiday days (though they could be), more relaxed days working on the inner side of running a business, the admin, the content creation, the strategy.

Remember!

When you go out and you meet people, you always gain extra insight.

One of the super valuable things about meeting new people is they ask us "What do you do? Who is that for?" And even though the person you're talking to may not be your ideal client, that doesn't matter because it's highly likely they know someone who is your ideal client.

By sharing your message, not only do you increase your network and therefore your possibility of referrals, but you also gain clarity in what you do, and your positioning. Because every time somebody asks you what you do, it makes you have to come up with a clear answer. 

One of the things I absolutely adore by being part of a mastermind group, as tiring as it is, is meeting people from very different countries, very different industries, niches.

Everyone has a different way of looking at things because it's so easy for us to get stuck in our rut, our channel, our bubble.

Stay open to the possibilities

And it doesn't mean that everything that gets suggested you have to take on board. But it's about thinking about it and then applying specifically to where you are at in your business.

But also for me, as an introvert, it's about keeping aligned to myself. In the online business world in particular, there's a lot of you should be doing XYZ in this order, in that way. 

For me, it's far more about creating a flexible plan your way.

So you can stay aligned to how you wish to work; you know what your inner boundaries are, your values and staying focused on your "Why" - why you really started your business in the first place.

So for me, the days after a mastermind session, even though it's about expanding on the day, it is then coming back into yourself and feeling within what it is that you really need to take away and put with your intention to move forward.

My biggest takeaway from my session yesterday, went beyond goal setting but the intentions beyond - what is our intention to move forward? Where do we want to on that?

While some in this the introvert hangover of feeling fuzzy, I know I will work my way out of it, but my core question in my head today that I wanted to share with you along this rambling path is ...

"What is your main intention for the next three months?"

I will leave that thought with you ... as I head off to take some time for me, to realign for myself.