This One's For You, Ladies!

Ok, time for some personal talk. This one is for you, my lady friends. How does your monthly cycle affect your leadership strategy? Or your presence? Or your mindset? I’ve talked before about managing our energy as the key to managing our time and achieving balance. This is about leaning into our expected energy highs and lows that recur on a monthly rhythm. (And guys, I’ve heard whisperings that men may have a monthly cycle, too, so read on!)

This is somewhat of a taboo topic in the workplace due to the labels that stereotype women’s “moodiness”, but forget all that for a moment and let’s look at how it can be a tool to leverage in our personal leadership strategy.

I don’t know about you, but I can certainly speak for myself here. My perception of my four-week cycle is basically composed of two two-week stretches. One uphill climb, and one down hill. I’ve illustrated it in the sketch below. (Yours may look different — what’s important is to get to know it.)

Let’s talk about the high energy point. I know that I will have the most energy the week of ovulation. (This is due to a rise in testosterone). Because I expect this to happen, I can leverage it in my productivity and creativity. I find I can be in go-mode from morning to night and my attitude is one of optimism and enthusiasm for what is possible.

After that peak in productivity during ovulation, my energy and mood heads downhill. I mean, don’t get me wrong — I love my work and I’m referring to a subtle shift that is mostly interior (my husband might tell you otherwise!).

Starting about a week before my period is expected, my energy drops to its lowest. This means I need to be a bit more diligent about taking my multivitamin. This means a glass of wine may make me more tired the next day than it otherwise would. If I have control over the timing of a family weekend trip or a big work event, I’m either going to plan around it or add in some extra space to allow for some ‘shoring up’ and recovery of my energy levels.

But the biggest part of this time is my mentality. I’ll be honest - the week before my period can be a dark place up there. And again, this is very subtle stuff. I sometimes catch myself having a thought of despair around the difference I’m making, my creative abilities, or general competence. I lose some degree of motivation. (I would consider myself as someone very mentally healthy with decent emotional intelligence, and this still happens to me!)

I have learned, through growing awareness of this cycle, to not over-identify with these types of thoughts. I now know why they’re happening, and I know not to take the thoughts at face value. I observe them from a distance, muse at their darkness, and recognize that I will be in a much different place in about a week.

This low time, I’ll call it, is also a time for me to ‘reign it in’, go within, nest a bit more, process things that need processing, take deeper breaths, and be careful not to cause any collateral damage with colleagues, friends or family.

So ladies (and maybe guys), if you can start to observe, expect, and lean into your energy and mental-outlook highs and lows over your monthly rhythm, you might allow yourself some more space for the low points and you might be able to better leverage the creativity and productivity during the high points. All the while, be sure to enjoy the ride, because all of it is about really living.

The thinking shared in this post was inspired by the book, Moody Bitches, by Judy Holland, M.D.