Masks on Planes

At the Conductors' Retreat at Medomak, Ken Kiesler often talks about oxygen masks on planes. You know, "place your mask on first before helping others put theirs on".  If you pass out from a lack of oxygen, you're not helping anyone.  He's telling him/ her to get themselves ready first and then worry about the orchestra.  

Increasingly, I think this is true in all of life.  If you're tired, take a nap. If you're burned out, go do something else for a while.  If we want to do our best work, we need to take care of ourselves first.  This might mean taking time to listen to that recording or going for a walk or working on that relationship we never have time for.  What is that you need to do in order to put your mask on first?