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UNAVAILABLE ON PURPOSE A phone can turn five quiet minutes into five more minutes of work. Create spaces where emails, texts and notifications simply aren’ t invited. Dinner. The garden. A morning walk. Your kid’ s soccer game. The first 30 minutes after you get home. THE UNPLUG: Give at least one part of the day your undivided attention.
YOUR PEOPLE CLOSE Leadership can consume the time and energy that friendships and family relationships require. Protecting those relationships isn’ t separate from recharging; often, it’ s how recharging happens. Make the dinner reservation. Call the friend. Sit on the porch. Play with the dog. THE CONNECTION CHECK: Spend time with people who know you without your job title.
SOMEONE TAKE CARE OF YOU Spa leaders spend their careers creating restorative experiences for others. Occasionally, cross over to the other side of the treatment table. Book the massage. Use the amenities. Take the class. Schedule the wellness appointment you keep recommending to everyone else. THE ROLE REVERSAL: Experience the kind of care your industry exists to provide.
SOMETHING THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WORK Garden. Bake. Paint. Read. Paddleboard. Watch gloriously unserious television. Learn an
instrument badly. Not every activity needs to build a skill, produce a result or make you a better leader. THE PERMISSION SLIP: Do something simply because you enjoy it.
ONE MORE THING: Burnout prevention doesn’ t have to become another item on the to-do list. The goal isn’ t to perfect your self-care routine. It’ s to create enough room in your life that work isn’ t responsible for filling all of it.
Time Off Is Leadership Time, Too
STEPPING AWAY CAN STRENGTHEN THE WAY YOU LEAD. Time off can help you return with fresh perspective, greater patience and renewed energy for the people who depend on you.
It also gives your team room to make decisions, solve problems and build confidence without you and signals that rest and healthy boundaries are part of sustainable leadership.
LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAY: Sometimes stepping away from the business is one of the best things you can do for the person who steps back into it.
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