The Courage to Disengage

It’s been a few weeks since the last edition of my newsletter.

I took 3 weeks off work over Christmas – a week to decompress and sort out life admin before the Christmas festivities begun, and two weeks to enjoy a once in a lifetime family holiday to Florida.

I wish I could say it was easy to switch off from work and be present with my family, but it really wasn’t. Worry and anxiety about the potentially damaging effects of taking ‘such a long time’ away from my business crept up frequently.

Isn’t it funny how we think nothing of slaving away at work for weeks, sometimes months at a time, often to the detriment of our relationships, family time, and our wellbeing, and then beat ourselves up for taking the time to focus on what truly matters in life?!

There’s a lot of focus on ‘engagement’ at work, or rather the lack of it – around 73% of the workforce are thought to be either quiet-quitting or actively disengaged at work (Gallup 2023). And is it any wonder?

After all, I left the workforce because as a Teacher, I felt I was having the life sucked out of me. Enough was never enough.

Freedom and autonomy to do what is essentially an incredibly rewarding job disappeared, and every minute was controlled and accounted for. On top of that, I had zero recovery time. Evenings, weekends, and holidays which should have been mine to spend with my family were spent either working or feeling too spent and exhausted to enjoy.

Breaking point for me was when I walked out of the toilet one break time to find a member of SLT waiting for me, pointing at his watch and urging me to get out on the yard for ‘break duty.’ When I pointed out I was changing my sanitary product, he backed off! And I walked out.

I’ve always been a very engaged member of the workforce. I give 100% to everything I do. My top VIA Strength (values in action) is perseverance. And now, working within my own business, I give even more.

But I also know how important it is to disengage from work. And Positive Psychology research has proven this to be true:

-????????? the more intense working days are, the longer the recovery period needed;

-????????? the positive benefits of longer breaks such as two-week holidays wear off very quickly;

-????????? frequent breaks throughout the day increase wellbeing, engagement and performance/productivity;

-????????? leisure activities, low-effort activities, social activities and physical activities are needed frequently in order to effectively recover and psychologically disengage from professional stressors and demands.

But disengaging from work remains difficult for most people. If, like me, you’re conditioned to work hard, and give things your all, you might be struggling to switch-off from work. Your passion and creativity will be continually bursting with ideas about things that you’d love to trial, changes you’d like to make, and enthusiastically finding solutions to problems.

Or, like some of my clients, you could be working all hours and worrying all night about targets, frustrations and people problems.

Either way, you’re on the slippery path to burnout. And as human beings with one very short time on this earth, we owe it to ourselves to spend time with the people who matter, doing the things that matter.

So as you’re busy plotting your goals and thinking about the leader you’d like to evolve into this year, I urge you to have the courage to disengage - take frequent movement breaks throughout the day, start the day with a mindful morning away from your phone, emails and other distractions, and happily close the laptop at the end of the day to be present with yourself and your loved ones.

Leadership might be a huge part of your identity, but courageous leaders are able to enjoy life too, and encourage their followers to do the same.

This is the latest in a series of articles written about 'courageous leadership' - cutting-edge research, tools and strategies to help leaders successfully navigate increasingly challenging workplaces, in a way that brings extraordinary results for business, people and planet.

Read more about how I can support you with Leadership and Wellbeing consultancy, training and coaching at www.corporatecrusade.com