Take Time Off, Now!
I am really bad at taking time off from work… my worst habit is my compulsion to tweak stuff and over work, I don’t know why I’m like this, perhaps it’s my slight obsessive compulsive nature… linked to my bloody minded determination to deliver on time…compounded by a tendency to take on too much work…who knows!
However in line with my new year’s resolutions I am trying to chill out more and spend more time connecting with friends and family and I feel great. After every break I come back with more energy and ideas than ever before…in fact a recent trip to Manchester was the inspiration for a whole new project I am now starting to work on…something very exciting that I will tell you all more about soon!
Now call this serendipity (which by the way is where the best writing comes from) but as I was thinking about this I came across This video on TED by Stefan Sagmeister the owner of New York design agency Sagmeister Inc. In the video Stefan talks about his revolutionary idea of ‘retiring’ for a year every 7 years. During this time he closes his New York studio for a year long sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh his creative outlook.
I found the video instantly compelling the power of time off to rejuvenate our creative batteries is key to being an effective enterprising person. As people who make careers solving problems and delivering solutions we need energy and no one has limitless energy so we need to balance carefully our careers and our downtime to prevent burnout.
When we burnout we don’t stop working but we let things slip; quality, commitment and delivery all suffer… so take some time off – we might not all be able to afford a whole year but a month, a week, even a regular day off will actually help you better achieve your goals.
Peace
Matt
