Renew & Refresh

Take care of yourself at work and at home. Eat well, exercise, and get adequate sleep. Support each other in making healthy choices. The healthier you are, the more you’ll thrive personally and professionally.

A lot of people mistakenly believe that taking time off to renew and refresh is somehow a negative thing as it relates to how one is viewed by their team. Like they’re wimps for being off work for a while. I do not ascribe to that view. 

We hear about ‘work-life balance,’ and I don’t see it that way either. To me, work and life are not mutually exclusive terms as that phase implies. I believe there are many aspects to life: work, family, friends, physical fitness, hobbies, play, spirituality and industry and community volunteerism all come to mind. I believe that if any one of these facets of life is too heavily weighted it’s not a good condition. Of course, at any given short span of time one or two of these might dominate one’s time, but over time, one must find balance. 

Back to vacations… they are not all about you! I have heard people declare, “I just can’t take time off right now, there’s too much happening at work.” Well, that can sometimes be the case, but it ought not to be that way on an on-going basis. It’s narcissistic in my view to believe that your team cannot live without you for 10 business days. If it really is true that they will collapse and everything your team works for will go down the tube if you’re gone, then you need to re-think your approach to work and perhaps get a different team! Time off allows your team to step up and learn what you do, so it can be an excellent cross-training and development strategy. Further, if you step away from the daily mayhem for a bit, perhaps you will gain a broader perspective and be able to be much more strategic when you return. You will have more impact for the energy you spend on work, and that is a win-win for you and your team and all of your team’s constituents!

Now to health. You cannot really be effective if you are exhausted (mentally and/or physically) all the time. If you have poor health, you will not be able to bring your best to your team. The more you want to contribute to your team the more vital it becomes to understand that taking care of yourself is job one. Sleep right, eat right, exercise and find time to develop your mind and spirit; it will make you a better person in all aspects of your life.