You deserve your time off

Just under a month ‘til Christmas. The perfect chance to down tools and take a really good break from work, even if you’re not celebrating Christmas itself.

You will be taking one, right?

Your office is closed. Your colleagues are off.

But you plan to squeeze in some work because you’ve got so much to do?

I so get you. It really is tempting.

If you are anything like the leaders I coach you are absolutely up to your ears in work, right now. It’s overwhelming. You could knock out quite a bit over the holidays, right?

But take a moment – I have an invitation for you.

?If you have a genuine choice over whether you work over the holiday, please do yourself (and others, too) a huge favour and take some proper time off. Please.

There are a zillion benefits. Here are a few.

1. You get to look after yourself

I know how busy you are. The CEOs and mission-driven leaders I work with have been sharing some tough challenges with me recently. One is hugely worried that fundraising targets are looking dangerously out of sight. Another has a hugely demoralised team. Another has just been made redundant.

Many are on their knees. The pressure and stress has been off the scale and they’re wondering if they can keep going.

So, clearly, they and you, all really, really need a break before stress and illness become the norm.

This holiday time is perfect to break the cycle of overwhelm and over-work and get some restorative rest and recuperation.

2. Your cause deserve you at your best

I hear from some of the leaders I coach that they feel guilty about taking time off. But let’s turn that around. It’s not selfish to take time away from work – it’s vital.

The work you do is about as important as it gets.

Whether it’s leading campaigns to end homelessness, supporting women in West Africa in small businesses or environmental campaigning, as some of my clients are doing, your mission is far too critical to be done on empty.

It needs your total focus and energy so you can lead others well and make the difference you know you can.

What use is a stressed-out, ground-down leader with nothing else to give?

Your cause deserves the best of you.

3. You model behaviour you want to see in others

As well as driving themselves into the ground, ‘always on’ leaders, aren’t doing their colleagues any favours, either. One of my clients in the senior leadership team is thoroughly fed-up with her CEO who is totally project focused and literally never seems to stop. Subsequently she herself feels she is never doing enough. That’s so demoralising.

You want to be encouraging a positive and thriving work culture where the whole team feels able to set and honour their own work boundaries. When you work though weekends, breaks and holidays, they will feel they should too. You need to lead the way.

4. January feels like a fresh start

Taking time-out gives you the head-space to start afresh in January with new oomph and enthusiasm.

One of the lovely things that happens when you’re not stuck in the details of day-to-day work, is that you give your brain a chance to work through things differently. Innovative and creative solutions to problems start popping up, apparently out of nowhere. You can bring these new ideas into your ‘back to work’ in the new year.

It really can be a Happy New Year instead of more of the same old

5. You get to have some fun

Christmas is one of the easiest times to take an all-out break because so many others are off then too. There’s an understanding that priorities will be shifting.

This is the time to do some of the gorgeous things you enjoy, that make up the whole of you, not just your ‘job you. Activities like spending time with people you love, cooking, dancing (if that’s your thing) getting out for wintry walks, sleeping in.

Even just checking your emails ‘offers your distraction’ to your loved ones says Harvard professor Frances Frei (one of my favourite wise-women leaders). Is that what you want?

These are deeply restorative activities. You need them for life to feel rich and whole. In the last year or so I have been leaning even more into the idea that fun and playfulness in leadership is absolutely vital in these tough times. You want to be keeping your hand in!

So, I’ll be taking at least two weeks off this holiday-time. I hope I’ve convinced you to leave the laptop in its case, too. How about taking a moment now to think about how you can make that happen?

• What do you need to have done before you stop work? (Can you be kind and allow some tasks to be ‘unfinished’?)
• What exactly are your holiday boundaries going to be?
• Who needs to know your plans, at work and at home?
• What do you need to ask from them to support you?
• How will you reward your success?

Good luck!!

Thank you for reading this article in my Loving Leadership newsletter. I hope it's inspired you in the amazing work you do.

Want some more Katie in your leadership?

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? If you're a woman leader, join me at my second Levity Lounge meet-up, my fun-loving community for 'rebel with a cause' leaders. 5th December, 5 to 7pm, central London.

Katie Duckworth is an infectiously enthusiastic change-maker, cheer-leader and inspirer of mission-driven leaders and their teams working all out for a better world. Her coaching is warm and empowering. Her training, practical, engaging and fun.

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