What I define as social battery is my capability to socialize with people in a set amount of time
Back before the pandemic, I can socialize tons in school, then also have two friend group chats, two daily friend chats, and three occasional casual chats which don’t happen daily but it’s still very often.
And then, pandemic happened, social isolation and burn out happened. And in the past two years, I would often go back online for a day or a few days, then dissapear again after my “social battery” ran out and I feel tired and don’t want to chat anymore.
Recently I noticed that whenever I feel slightly normal, like being forced to take care of myself and going on a trip with friends or family, I get a bit more energized and chat more, until I get extremely drained that day and stop chatting again.
This week, our face to face classes started up again, and somehow it’s become easier to chat friends and my social battery is higher now. But there are still some moments where I would be offline for a few days, before I get the energy and the urge to socialize again.
I really want to know, how do y’all “recharge” or make your social battery bigger?
3 comments
I’m not endorsed by any major sports brand, but I’ll use their slogan anyway: *just do it*. If you start going to the gym, the only way to feel better exercising is by exercising and that’s how your social muscles work, too. I call it Bert Visscher’s Law, since he said in one of his comedy shows: *”If you’ve nothing to do, you’ll do nothing, but if you’re busy, you’ll paint the entire house!”* That concept rings true with me. Put your best foot forward and don’t rest too much. It only takes 30 days to build a habit. Re-evaluate after a month, after three months and then six months and notice the progress you’ve made. Charging often creates lazy batteries.
What really helped me is to be present in the conversation. So when you are with a big group/just a few friends, you should only focus on them, for example think about: “i’m really intrested in how was their day/ how are they doing at work/etc.” This way I won’t let my anxiety grow, I can stay in the moment. I can say, fake it till you make it, of course at first it didn’t come naturally for me either, but you can practice it and it will definitely get better.
if I did observe those who have a bigger social battery correctly, it is to stop thinking too deeply. It drains energy and most people of higher social energy don’t need that kind of depth in answers, nor do they produce the depth. So just think lite and feel free while interacting.
this worked for me coming out from covid