A few things I learnt from taking a vacation during covid....

Before I went on vacation I posted an article from the Harvard Business review " Managers, Encourage Your Team to Take Time Off" - since it received 4000+ views, I wanted to follow it up.

 I can’t say I’m back, as refreshed and energized as has been the case in the past with vacation but I can say I have come back in a far better mental state than when I left. After all, I came back to Covid, it didn’t go anywhere. However the mental and physical value in taking that vacation has undeniably saved me from burn out.

 After some introspection a few insights I thought you might be interested in reading, in the hope that if you are wondering "should I take that vacation?”, this may push you over that edge.... 

1.The sky is not falling down

 A traditional (Danish) folk story I used to read to my kids when they were young was called chicken licken, apart from the fun rhyming part I never really paid attention to the moral of the story that disaster was imminent - now I finally get it. This chicken was convinced the sky was going to fall down and convinced others too until the timely demise of them all at the hands of the cunning fox, and the sky never did fall down. For me this sums up the point for me, the sky won’t fall down if you take vacation, I’m not that indispensable and I have a great team who have my back at work.

2. Covid is no longer a sprint, it's a marathon

As Dr. Aditi Nerurkar eloquently puts it 'Our collective fatigue is so deep we can feel it in our bones. Honor that ache. For the moment, try surrendering the shoulds, need tos, and must dos and embrace the realm of self-compassion.'

 And if I may add, please if you have the resources, make it a vacation not a staycation. Before I left, I was waking up around 6am, rolling out of bed, my home office is in my bedroom, first thing I did was to switch on my laptop and quickly review headline emails…..and there seemed to be no end to the day, whilst trying to juggle my responsibilities and kids pull on my time (snack time, lunch, snack time, dinner, goodnight kiss) the book end to the day seemed to fade. Stepping away from the physical environment allowed me to step away from work - fully. Which leads nicely on to……

3. Book ending a day

Recently the term 'book ending the day' has been popping up. What on earth does this mean? According to Matthew Vickers, our bp mental health champion and advocate, set us the challenge if we chose to accept it 'is to design and implement a daily bookend routine that supports your wellbeing needs. Bookending, in the emotional sense, is the name given to the actives you consciously choose to mark the start and the end of your working day. Commonly this would be our commute to work. The benefit of bookending your day is it encourages a smooth transition from a work focused mindset, to a chilled home life. This facilitates us leaving our stress at work during our working hours, encourages productivity within these times as well as allow us to unwinding in an evening. This is so important as we are working from home.'

4. Don’t underestimate the value from being in a confined space with your partner for 4500 miles 

When you spend 4500 miles in a road trip and confined space with your partner, you get a lot of talking and soul searching done. I rediscovered podcasts, and some I was able to convince my partner to listen to as well, one which provoked thought was my fave, Verena Hefti's podcast; Leaders with Babies and the Dr Jennifer Petriglieri episode on 'surviving lockdown! How working couple's can thrive whilst juggling careers and home schooling during times of crisis.

 My other podcast/listening recommendations:

• Women lead the energy transition (Womens energy council)
• Be a Lady they said (Diversitea)
• How to be an antiracist (Ibram Kendi & @Brene Brown)
• BP's new Strategy ?? & 2Q 2020 results
• Pancakes and Peacocks, a podcast for joyful living (@Ruth Penfold)

5. Appreciate the domestic beauty round the corner (corner as defined in the US) AND the carbon offset

 A 4500 mile round trip definitely redefined my view of travel by plane. Travelling 4500 miles round trip by car, yes I did feel a little good about the carbon offset that brought. It made me rethink, future travel plans and domestic discovery possible, all minus a plane. In our own way we contributed - no action is too small.

 These are a few of my introspections………and after all is said and read, if nothing else I will leave you with a photo from my holiday that sums up all the beauty. Go on, take the vacation….