Time Out to Increase Productivity

I need a break! I can’t take any more of this! I’m so tired I can’t do this again! I am worn down and have lost my energy! My productivity is way down! Does this sound familiar? It did to me. I can relate in every way, how about you?

Recently, I was fortunate to be able to take a week-long vacation and completely unplug from everything. I really needed it. I found that I was feeling really stressed and repeating the statements above on a regular basis and I knew in my heart that these thoughts were not the real me. I am typically an optimistic and encouraging person. Not overly energetic, but engaged, thoughtful and usually looking forward to tomorrow. I found myself just worn out, physically, mentally and spiritually. It has been a challenging and rewarding year, but life and work events had robbed me of my perspective and productivity.

Fortunately, my wife and I plan a cruise for every November which provides an opportunity to unplug from the world and strengthen our connection to each other. This year the timing could not have been better as I was to the point of needing a life raft for every aspect of my being. On the cruise we are able to leave our day-to-day challenges behind, simplify our lives to eating, sleeping, being entertained and time for processing. We have been able to resist the growing trend of staying connected to the world through electronic and social media by turning off our phones and not purchasing Wi-Fi connectivity. We just unplug.

What a difference that get away time makes. While it took less than an hour to unpack our suitcases, it took days to unpack my stress. But after a few days I was fully unpacked and able to start processing and regaining my perspective. There was a lot to process.

As I reclaimed the real me, it reminded me that it is as important to schedule rest as it is to schedule the next event. Without rest and processing time we are risking our health, energy, perspective and productivity. The unlikely paradox is that we actually need to occasionally pause to be more productive.

According to Business Insider, saving your vacation time can do more harm than good. They reported that “in 2013, a whopping 42% of working Americans reported that they didn’t take a single vacation day.” Additionally they found “Based on a survey of 1,214 adults living in US households where someone receives paid time off, 85% of respondents said people who fail to use time off are losing out on quality time with their significant other and their children”.

Interestingly, Health Net reports that “The professional services firm Ernst & Young conducted an internal study of its employees and found that, for each additional 10 hours of vacation employees took, their year-end performance ratings improved 8 percent, and frequent vacationers also were significantly less likely to leave the firm.”

So what should we do? Here are some practical next steps:

1) Plan for time away. Put time on the calendar to get away from the day-to-day routine and go to someplace that we can escape. It is not necessary to travel to an exotic location for this, though that certainly would be nice. A “stay-cation” (stay at home vacation) can be just as effective. Set a relaxed agenda along the theme of a cruise or your favorite place to escape that includes time to relax and enjoy and little or no time allotted to the routine of everyday.

2)  Unplug. As much as possible, put the phone, tablet, laptop (fill in our favorite device), away. For the period of this vacation, disconnect from the electronic world. Put an autoresponder on our email that let’s people know we are not going to be returning messages for a few days, put the phone on send all calls, turn off the 24/7 news programs and relax.

3) Unpack. Allow our minds to wander and process all of those thoughts we have not had the time to consider. There are many times we just accumulate abstract pieces of information or situations that need to be processed. This is the chance to get all of those things put in place and rationalized. Do not rush this, it may take awhile.

4) Do something nice for someone else. There is nothing more restorative than helping someone else. It can be as simple as just opening a door for someone, helping a neighbor with a small task, or meeting someone for lunch. This helps us take the focus off of us and see a larger perspective.

5) Get ready for the flood of ideas. As we become more relaxed and have an opportunity to process our thoughts, we are going to find that real person in ourselves that was full of ideas and solutions. Let the thoughts flow. Keep a pencil and paper or tablet handy to put these thoughts into our notes system. Do not try to detail every thought, just write it down. We will surprise ourselves with the volume of notes we will produce

6) Prepare for reentry. Now that we have returned to the real people that we are, try to hold on to the peace of mind that we established. It is hard to do, but when we return try not to do everything at once. Have a plan of attack for getting caught-up. Read the newest email first and we may find that we do not need to read all of them. Take notes on messages and then answer the newest first and so forth.

I hope this helps all of us when we are approaching our personal burnout limits. We live in a busy world and there is a lot of pressure all around us. We can better cope and thrive if we plan for some downtime as part of our activity.

Thank you for taking time to follow along on this journey. I look forward to hearing about your experiences and techniques for renewal. Please feel free to comment below.

Thanks,

Skip Gilbert