Taking a break
Whenever I’m being interviewed I often get asked the question ‘What’s one thing you’d like to get better at?’ Given that I love what I do, I’m constantly working on improving my knowledge, my awareness, my content, my delivery, my programmes and my understanding of the world and how it impacts the work my clients want to do.
Yet my answer is almost always ‘Taking a break’; and from my conversations with clients and fellow self-employed individuals, I’m not alone!
Taking a proper ‘get-away-from-it-all-disconnect-and-do-nothing’ holiday feels unachievable, unrealistic or something that other people do! Or else, it’s something I don’t really look forward to as I know that when I do get around to taking a holiday, I get sick on day one!
This is known as the let down effect. During times of stress (positive and negative), the body's immune system can be temporarily boosted by stress hormones, but once the stress is removed, a rapid decrease in these hormones can weaken the immune system and leave us vulnerable to illnesses like colds, headaches, or stomach disorders. This also manifests as increased fatigue, irritability, or a general feeling of sadness and lack of motivation.
To counter this I’m now better at managing my evenings and weekends. I try not to work past 7pm and on weekends I’ll go for a hike or visit a gallery to truly disconnect.
Yet, it’s the big breaks that I struggle to take. The ones where you sit and do nothing. Where you revel in books, magazines, people watching and a bit of boredom and let the brain and body refresh. The phone and tablet are consigned to a drawer, and the only notifications I get are when my whisky cocktail is ready!
Rather than the alternative, which I seem to be better at - walking tens of kilometres around medieval European cities, trying to find evidence of World War II battles, whilst listening to a history podcast about how they built the Great Wall of China. It’s my biology, I can’t help it!
Anyway, that’s what I’m going to do. From today I’m taking a two-week break to do all of the things I mentioned above (the relaxing and cocktails, not the endless walking and listening!)
I already know what will happen. For the first two or three days I’ll be restless, not really knowing what to do with myself. Then on day four I’ll feel a sense of calm and I’ll start noticing things that ordinarily I’d miss. I’ll realise that whilst the technology that we have access to can add value to our lives it’s also a huge drain on our attention and the latter is more prevalent than the former.
By day seven, my mind will be awash with ideas, so I’ll need a pen and paper to capture them and by day ten I’ll wonder why I don’t do this every year and resolve to make it so.
This means taking a break from writing and posting content. The hustle bros will tell me that I should work harder and stay up later to write and schedule two weeks of content so that I ‘don’t fall out of people’s feeds’. But, that’s a chance I’m going to take.
After all, I can’t preach about the importance of people taking a break to keep their cultures fresh and then never do it myself! Now, does anyone have any podcast recommendations…
Here’s some essential reading whilst I’m away. Download my new white paper by clicking the image above.
Subscribe to Colin on Culture Sign up with your email * indicates required Email Address *
