The importance of rest in your transportation activism
I’m terrible at it, but it’s important for every activist
I typically post here weekly, but I missed last week because I was out of commission. I was knocked out of commission because there is a pillar of advocacy that I consistently neglect: rest. I’ve been running myself ragged and got a nasty cold (thankfully not COVID!) which took me out for a few days. A strong reminder that the adage “if you do not schedule time for maintenance your equipment will schedule it for you” is not just for machinery!
Particularly in the world of transportation advocacy, the need to take action is pretty much endless. There’s always something that needs doing or a campaigning opportunity to swarm to– on the defense or offense. There’s always something worthwhile to work on and there is almost never going to be someone else who says “nah, you’ve done enough, you should take a break.” It is on each of us to understand where our limits are and respect them.
And not all limits are hard ones. Sometimes it is worth “overclocking” and temporarily pushing past your limits for an emergency. Only you can figure out for yourself what that balance needs to be in order for you to live the life you want.
Since resting and saying “no” to projects I want to take on is something I’m particularly terrible at, I’d love it if you posted in the comments how you manage to get the rest you need. What tips or tricks do you have to share with your fellow activists?
Here’s some ways that I try to limit my workload and carve out space for rest.
Improve efficiency! I’m a big fan of “work smarter, not harder” but I find that it triggers a rebound effect where I end up taking on even more work
Say no to entire categories of tasks. For me a category I try really hard to avoid entirely is “committees”. Happy to have a 1-on-1 or present to a board or do group texts, but I give “working group” or “taskforces” wide berths.
Delegate, recruit, and empower. Lots of things need to be done, and a lot of them can be done by anyone. Do the things that only you can do. For stuff that can be done by anyone, your main task is to make sure someone does it. This can be particularly hard for perfectionists or folks who don’t feel comfortable trusting others to do important work. But it’s essential to let others help more and give them what they need to succeed (which could just be permission and direction). Doing this strengthens your organizing and frees you up to rest (or take on more tasks)
Schedule down time. I find that I keep scheduling fun activities as my down time. Unfortunately, fun activities isn’t the same as rest.
Know when high quality work is essential, and when it isn’t. Allow yourself to only do an OK job sometimes when it’s ok to just do OK (see this post as an example!)
Want help imagining, planning and winning better transit and or safer streets? I’m here to help! Whether you want a 1-on-1 training session or a group workshop, let’s talk. Email me at Carter@carterlavin.com to set something up. Here’s a bit about what training sessions are like.
Special announcement!
Thrilled to announce that I've signed a book deal with Island Press! For 40 years, Island Press has published books dedicated to protecting the environment like “Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities,” “Beyond Greenways: The Next Step for City Trails and Walking Routes," and “Justice and the Interstates: The Racist Truth about Urban Highways.” I’m excited to join their collection!
I was flattered when they first approached me about a book and I'm so excited to be writing a “How To” book for transit, bike, and street safety advocates. It’ll be on shelves in Fall 2025. My aim is for the book to be a complete guide from start to finish for budding transportation activists.
Free upcoming online event
2/21 @ 5:30pm PT— Transit Activism Training: “How to make your transit fantasies reality” in special partnership with the “The Transit Guy” Hayden Clarkin, founder of TransitCon. Learn more and register here.
Millions of Bay Area voters are about to get their March 5th Primary ballot and I’m pleased to have helped lead the effort on the “Transportation Questionnaire” which got responses from 65 candidates across the 9 County Bay Area! You can view the responses by region here: East Bay Candidates, North Bay Candidates, Peninsula Candidates, San Francisco Candidates, and South Bay Candidates. The project was co-led with SPUR, Seamless Bay Area, San Francisco Transit Riders, Silicon Valley Bike Coalition, and Bike East Bay
Want to take a peek behind the curtain of this advocacy training work? Sign up for my monthly newsletter here.
Interested in sponsoring the training of an activist working on an issue you’re passionate about? Let’s chat. Carter@carterlavin.com
Ummm, Take a bike ride! I schedule exercise and a bike ride of differing modes is on a once every three day rotation. you schedule may vary, but do the ride!