One of the questions I was asked recently was this: How do you apply the Cadence Approach when you’re in a reactive role, when you can’t predict your “Wimbledons”?
It’s such a good question, because for many people, work doesn’t feel predictable, or they’re in a reactive role. There may not be a major presentation, a big launch, or a known period of intense pressure that you can prepare for in advance. Instead, the pressure can feel constant. The demands are ongoing, the pace is high, and much of the day is spent responding to whatever comes your way.
So how do you apply Cadence when life and work feel reactive? If you do not have a clear “Wimbledon” on the horizon that you’re preparing for, then in many ways, you are preparing for every day. That relies on two key actions:
- Focus on staying ready for the rigours of daily life
- Prioritise slivers of recovery
Staying ready for the rigours of daily life
Applying Cadence starts by asking yourself: What are the one, two, or three daily non-negotiables that keep me in a ready state?
These do not need to be big, dramatic habits. They are the basics that help you stay resilient enough to meet the demands of your working life. They might be linked to sleep, movement, fitness, community or connection with other people. They might involve getting outside, protecting your energy, or creating a small amount of structure in an otherwise unpredictable day.
The key is to identify what keeps you well enough, steady enough and strong enough to deal with the rigours of daily life.
Because when your role is reactive, readiness matters even more.
You may not be able to control what lands on your desk, what changes in the business, or what kind of day you are about to have. But you can improve your capacity to respond well. That is what preparation looks like in a reactive role. It is less about gearing up for a single event and more about maintaining a basic state of resilience through small daily investments.
Prioritise slivers of recovery
The second part of my answer, on how to apply Cadence, is recovery. Even in reactive roles, or perhaps especially in reactive roles, recovery still matters. Not just the bigger moments of rest, but the small ones too.
I often talk about slivers of recovery because these little moments can make a meaningful difference across the day. That might be pausing to look out of the window for a minute. It might be taking one minute for a pause and some breathwork before your next meeting. It could be stepping outside, walking between or during calls, or consciously marking the end of the working day instead of carrying straight on.
These moments may seem small, but they are not insignificant.
They help regulate your nervous system, restore a little energy, and create tiny resets that stop pressure from building unchecked. When your day is unpredictable, these slivers of recovery become part of how you sustain performance.
You do not need hours of free time to recover. Often, you need awareness, intention and permission to make use of the moments that already exist.
Cadence is not only for predictable pressure
Sometimes people think Cadence only applies when you can clearly see a big challenge coming. But the truth is, even when we can identify our “Wimbledons”, life is still full of unpredictability.
There are always unknowns. Things change. New pressures emerge. Energy fluctuates. Plans shift.
That is why Cadence is so relevant, whether you have a major event ahead or whether you feel like you are constantly responding to changing demands.
The principle remains the same:
Predict what you can. Prepare where you can. Recover when you can. Repeat consistently.
That might mean:
- Building a few daily non-negotiables that keep you grounded
- Noticing what helps you feel ready
- Identifying what helps you reset
- Protecting small moments of recovery throughout the day
- Recognising that resilience is not built in one grand gesture, but through consistent, practical actions
A question to reflect on
If your role feels reactive right now, here is a useful question to ask yourself:
How can you apply the prepare and recover phases to whatever is going on for you at the moment?
Not in an ideal world. Not when things calm down. But right now.
What helps you stay ready for the demands of your life and work?
Where are the slivers of recovery you can start to reclaim in your day?
Because those two things together can help keep you ready for whatever life throws at you.
Curious how your experience compares with the wider picture?
Download the State of Workplace Wellbeing Report 2026
Take the Cadence Scorecard to benchmark your own habits for sustainable performance and discover where small changes could make a big difference.
