For athletes, warming down is about keeping their muscles in good trim. It is pacing themselves so that their body is saved from shocks and has the resilience to handle future intense periods of activity smoothly. You benefit from knowing how best to look after yourself, ensuring good levels of vitality, using time effectively and coping with stress well.

Often the most successful leaders have very clear strategies for the use of their time and energy when they are not working. They may well bring the same focus to their personal interests that they do to their work. John is a highly effective director general and thoroughly enjoys running a small farm at the weekend. Nick is a confident chief executive who gains enormous pleasure from the work he does on his allotment. Chris is a competent technical draughtsman who particularly looks forward to running half marathons. Anne enjoys her work enormously, but gets even more pleasure from spending time with her teenage children. Ruth revels in her teaching work, but it is the work in her local community and church that provides such an important balance for her.

All of these people are conscious that there needs to be a balance between their work and other areas of life. This might mean using some of the same competencies in both worlds or it could mean bringing a very different set of skills and preferences. They might need to be a leader in the working world but a supporter and encourager in the world outside work. They might make a supportive contribution in their working world and take a leading role in community or family activities.

Julie Taylor has had a sequence of very demanding director roles. When asked what her advice is on how to raise your game, she said, 'Learn to relax.' For her, knowing how to look after yourself involves these behaviours:

What are the sources of energy in your different spheres of life? They might be your family, your community, your faith, physical recreation, wider intellectual interests, the arts and music or hobbies such as photography. In many of these spheres there may be something that enthuses you. Part of the test is whether something engages your full attention and whether you feel better or worse for spending time on that particular activity. There will be difficult choices between relative priorities, particularly when the wider family is involved. The key issue is what activities outside family and work responsibilities are most precious in recharging your batteries, giving you an equitable perspective on life, providing humour and lightness, and enabling you to do your work even better because you are that much more fulfilled.

Growing your vitality is about identifying what activities have the most beneficial impact on you, and then seeing if it is possible to do more of those activities in a way that benefits both you and those who are most important to you.

How can you best ensure that you use your energy levels in the most effective way at work? It might be of value to assess yourself against questions like:

It can be helpful to reflect on the relationship between your vitality and time spent in your comfort zone. Sometimes spending time in your comfort zone is a source of energy and renewal, but equally important is stretching your boundaries. The athlete who runs a half marathon in 90 minutes may well be energised by the prospect of running it in 85 minutes on the next occasion. For others, running a half marathon in 90 minutes is achievement enough and provides a sense of well-being and vitality without needing to strive for even higher standards of achievement.

In a booklet entitled Thriving in a Faster, Faster World (Praesta, 2007), Heather Dawson talks of leaders building in time for their 'oxygen tent' or 'oxygen pocket', which could be a hobby, a physical endeavour, a cultural interest or a charitable work. She talks of the oxygen tent as a form of 'enlightened self-interest', providing a space for renewal in the 'hectic business of leading organisations'.

What are the oxygen masks that keep you in equilibrium? When you are busy at work it might be a brief walk at lunchtime, a photograph of a mountain or your children on your desk, an exchange of smiles with a good colleague, a brief telephone call with your spouse or partner, or reflecting briefly on a job well done. Using your oxygen mask is a necessary part of survival, but if you use it too often you become overdependent on it. Knowing it is there and available is a great reassurance.

Knowing what your oxygen mask is and using it is a sign of strength, not weakness. It is worth considering:

Jennifer was very conscious that her life was demanding, with pressure to go from one meeting to another. She decided to commit herself to a number of practical steps, which included:

The consequence was more focused interventions, better use of time and more energy. Those brief moments of 'warm-down' during the day became very precious as her life got even busier.

At the heart of effective time management is forward planning, prioritising, focusing, delegating, influencing and being tough. Practical steps on each of these are summarised in Box 13.

Pressure can be a very positive driver. Stress can be an unwanted and unhelpful response to pressure. You may sometimes feel that stress is an unavoidable reaction in a difficult situation and you may recognise pressure for what it is in a range of different situations. However, you do have a choice about how you react. This is not only about what you do physically but also how you think mentally and feel emotionally.

Arnie Skelton, in 'Eliminating Stress' (Public Service Magazine, 2008), recommends exercising regularly, talking your concerns through with supportive others, knowing how to relax and switch off, learning to let go of anxiety and worry, putting fun into your life regularly and discovering 'absorption techniques' for deflecting your thinking from negative to positive by having something else to think about. He sets out some practical suggestions, including: