Employer Columnist
Time off for your employees
My mentor one day looked at me and told me, “Edmond, I have been your mentor for almost two years now and I can see a pattern. You will work very hard for 2 months, then burn out and do nothing for a month, then recover and work really hard again for 2 months, and then burn out again for a month.” We then charted out my pattern by month and I realized that it was so true.
I consider myself as a hardworking person. When I am motivated on a goal I am like a machine. I turn and churn and turn and churn and turn and churn until I burn. I realized that I was behaving like a badly maintained machine, effective, efficient until I burn out due to lack of oiling and servicing. Since that realization I had to reprogram how I think about work. Since that realization, I make deliberate attempts to take time off on a daily basis and deliberately schedule holidays for myself. Now, I still go through cycles of high and low productivity, however the intensity of highs and lows are no longer extreme and are very manageable. Since I started taking time off for myself I am more productive and I achieve more.
Time off can be divided into two distinct categories: -
• Daily “me” time and
• The week long holidays that we take a few times a year
Of the two, the daily “me” time is the most important. Daily “me” time allows for people to plan their day, to reflect and analyze how their day went. Daily “me” time prevents our autopilot system from kicking in and preventing us from becoming better. Daily “me” time does not mean daily television watching, daily “me” time means taking between 15 minutes to an hour a day for activities that develop us as people. Daily “me” time include planning for the day, reflecting on the day, goal setting, contemplating or dreaming of our future, meditation, reading or simply working out.
Even with holidays, there are two distinct types, the first is the type that gives us stress and the second is the type that puts us in a relaxed, resourceful state. The second type of holiday allows us to come back refreshed and ready for anything.
How many of your employees have daily “me” time and good recharge holidays? The ability to remain at peak performance relies on your people's ability to take good care of themselves. Unless they know how, they will remain an average employee. I am convinced that the ability to re-oil and recharge ourselves is fundamental to your employee's success in your company.
As you are concerned in your employees success, teach them the following: -
• Personal effectiveness
◦ Goal setting
◦ Time management
• Personal leadership
◦ Personal motivation
◦ Personal vision & mission
◦ Personal state management & state change
All of which have elements of time off. If you'd like to hear someone famous talking about the power of time off, watch this video: -
http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_the_power_of_time_off.html
Edmond is a qualified civil engineer who has been working in the engineering field for 5 years. Switching career in motivational speaking and training, he was the performance consultant at the Malaysian chapter of Dale Carnegie Training. His love of motivating and inspiring people prompted him to starting up Education Republic with a few others.
He can be reached at edmond@edurepublic.com
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