
Do your struggle to give yourself permission to take time off ?
In my experience many high achievers in business feel they need some form of permission to take time off. In their minds it is unacceptable to not be constantly taking action in the pursuit of their dreams and goals.
Taking time off during the year instead of being restorative can quickly lead to feelings of anxiety, the ‘To Do’ list hovers in their consciousness. Feelings then turn to guilt at a perceived laziness.
Christmas however is a time of year when many will feel they have that permission as most of the world takes some time off. We can slow down the hectic pace of life and indulge ourselves with good food, company and activities we enjoy without feeling anxious or guilty.
Most of us embrace this, we take a decent break at Christmas and relax into it which is reflective in the renewed energy that we return to our roles and businesses with in the New Year.
Our natural tendency is to then explode into January armed with a huge set of goals and burgeoning To Do List.
However what is often missed is taking the time to map out how and when we are going to focus on our recovery in the coming year.
Everyone is talking about their new year resolutions currently, you will be far more likely to achieve them if you are also talking about how you will plan recovery to optimise your performance in the pursuit of those resolutions!
I like to draw parallels with elite athletes and encourage my clients to step into the world of professional sport.
Irrespective of what sporting discipline you consider you will find a similar pattern. That is periods of high intensity training and or competition interspaced with structured and diarised periods of recovery.
There is no guilt for the athletes at structuring their diary with regular blocks of recovery time as the athlete has the mindset that “I am resting to let my training take effect.”
The athletes recognise that they cannot optimise performance 24/7 that would be impossible and any attempt to do so would result in compromised performance or injury.
In business I frequently find leaders and their staff trying to do just that. High intensity workday in and day out without much thought about recovery.
When we compare our own approach to recovery we recognise how inadequate it is. For most it is an afterthought that lacks any real strategy. I have been there in my roles as a Chief Executive I compromised my physical health on several occasions because I focussed on maintaining high intensity output without any real focus on recovery.
Recovery can’t just be a break at Christmas and an annual summer holiday, it needs more considered thought and consistent focus.
In a future blog we will be posting a series of tips on how to enhance your recovery process and optimise your performance.
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