Batteries are one of those things that you don’t appreciate until they fail you.

Here’s a real life example.

Yesterday morning, I was in a hurry to get to work.  I got into my car, turned the ignition, and got nothing but a sad revving of the engine.

It seems my two year old battery gave up the ghost over the weekend.

So, I went inside to call AAA and get some help.

While on the phone with them, my phone started chirping at me.

Just 10% charge remaining.

So, while listening to some very bad muzak complete with wailing saxophones, I plugged my phone in while waiting to speak to someone.

After I got someone scheduled to come take a look at my car, I hopped on the computer to price batteries.

Do I need to tell you what happened next?

Low battery, it told me.  Or, more to the point, it shut off unexpectedly in the middle of my search.

Yeah.  It was one of those days.

But at least it gave me a helpful message for today’s post.

Lessons learned

The guy who came out to check on my car had a handy little battery assessment tool that he used.

He hooked it up to the car and gave me a neat little print out that showed me just how sad my poor battery was.

It couldn’t hold a charge at all!

Looking back on it all now, I learned a couple of things…

Firstly, certain factors, like temperature, affect battery life.  So, folks in Texas and Florida, with super hot summers, don’t get nearly as much wear out of their batteries as people in more temperate areas of the country.

So, what does this have to do with you and your mental health?  Consider things that drain your own batteries.  Consider your emotional climate, know the settings where you do poorly.  Is it big groups of people, certain chores, a particular relationship?

And by contrast, what fills you up and restores you?  You should have a list of go-to things that nourish you.  It’s a little bit like having an extra battery in your back pocket.  Speaking of spares…

Secondly, keep a spare on hand whenever possible.  I’m not quite sure what this would look like.  I think it depends on the person.

Basically, a spare battery is a pocket of self-care that you’ve planned in advance for yourself.

You might think of it like day to day maintenance to keep yourself charged.  So, if you keep a spare snack in your purse for unexpected belly rumbles, or if you protect your lunch break at work like your life depended on it—those would qualify.

Or maybe you think of spares as something going above and beyond your usual routine of self-care.

So, planning a trip or a mental health day ahead of time, just because.

Or having a reward or nice treat set up for yourself, for no particular reason.

That sort of thing.

(Sounds nice, doesn’t it?)

Thirdly, try to track your level of charge at all times.  This will help keep you from finding yourself stranded or burned out.

Check in with yourself periodically to see how your own reserves are faring.

Are you regularly making time for things that replenish you?  Or are you working on borrowed time against burn out?

Some people like to use the HALT acronym, which stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.  These are common triggers that point people towards choices and behaviors that they can later regret.

How’s your charge?

Yesterday’s various battery shenanigans left me feeling tired.

I had to change my whole day around, including cancelling and rescheduling appointments with clients—something that I avoid doing whenever possible.  It was stressful!

I spent all day yesterday tending to other batteries.

So today, I’m taking a little bit of time to store up some of my own reserves.

I encourage you to do the same.

Check your batteries.

If you only bother to do it when something’s not working right, you probably weren’t paying close enough attention to yourself in the first place.