Everyone needs time away from work – this is a fact (or an inconvenient truth, depending on your relationship to work). It's why employment legislation dictates the minimum amount of vacation time an employer establishes for their employees, and their right to take ALL OF IT. On Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs it is the second tier, the one that speaks to family and health (the one right above food and water, and just below career and self-actualization... that's right, you can't enjoy what you have if you're not rested and healthy, that needs to come first). But sometimes work comes with us on our vacations, and we don't even know it. Let me explain. Check in. Right now as you are reading this, what is your posture like? Are you hovered over your computer/phone, reading as quickly as you can so you can move on to the next thing on your to-do list? Are you hunched up? Jaw tensed? Are your muscles tight? Are you poised to “move on”? Yup, you and everyone else who is poised to get stuff done. This physical posture exists because you assume it in many facets at work, it's deeply ingrained in your muscle memory. Let’s call it the “I am going to get work DONE” posture, or "work pose" for short. Think about how many hours a day you're balled up and tense, hunched over a laptop or keyboard. No wonder you need vacation - your body does too. Do you assume an equally intense “I am on VACATION” pose when you're away? Is your body able to become more relaxed, fluid, supple, rested when you're not at work? If you return from a vacation and it feels as if you never left, you may be bringing your work pose with you on vacation. Work pose happens when we want to drive the maximum amount of productivity out of something; we engage in it with DETERMINATION so fully that we are physically tensed for much of the time, even when it isn't work. Your muscles know this well; they assume the “pose”. This is how work pose comes with you on vacation. I have a wonderful person in my life who is encouraging me to meditate; she remarks that one should move softly into meditation. To help me see exactly what she means, she imitates “work pose” in her chair (shoulders hunched, arms tensed, resting bitch face on) and says “and now I am going to MEDITATE!” Clearly meditating with "work pose" is not going to be effective at all. Neither is vacationing with it. You will never be able to fully derive all the benefit out of your vacation if you cannot be present for yourself. Vacations have the advantage of taking us out of routine and getting our bodies engaged in something different (like horse back riding, swimming, or just laying on a beach), but vacations are brief. If you have a jam-packed vacation schedule you are also likely spending time in your “work pose” getting the luggage sorted, reading the GPS, trying to get somewhere on time, etc. Try relaxing your muscles; if you're struggling with this here's a great way to un-do "work pose":
We have a costly problem in North America: many of us are not taking our vacations (to the tune of over a billion dollars in unused vacation time every year). Vacations can be costly, more and more of us are choosing to defer them, but we need a full and complete break from work (7-14 consecutive days) to uncurl ourselves from "work pose" - and re-train our bodies to relax away the tension. Vacations release "work pose", but it can take a week to "stand down" from work pose. If you never go on a multi-day vacation, releasing "work pose" gets harder and harder to do. You're passionate about what you do, and your body will be tense from time to time, so it's beneficial to “check in” and acknowledge how you are sitting/standing. Stopping to follow the guidance of your inner fitness instructor - taking full breaths, stretching and loosening up tense muscles - intentionally taking on "vacation pose". Asking yourself from time-to-time “what do I need right now?”. If you do this more often you will be “in the moment” and that allows you to catch up with yourself, to meet your needs (take a break, grab a drink, move away from your desk). It creates a new way of being at work, the “I am going to live well” pose, the one where you look after yourself and care enough to breath deeply knowing you are good at what you do, and it will all get done whether you push into it or not. Honouring yourself at work will mean vacations are restful too, not just a “change” but a restorative break. So, as you're reading this, check your posture and your expectations of yourself – go softly into whatever you choose to pursue, getting more enjoyment from it. Have a great vacation. Working with Carleen, I don't hate my job anymore! And I didn't have to change employers."
I used to love international travel for work. I would get so much work done during the uninterrupted time on long-distance flights. Sometimes I would get whole days to myself if I was traveling over a weekend, or arriving on a Sunday morning. It felt wonderful because it was all me time “guilt free”. Meaning it just happened and I didn’t have to assert my needs by asking for it. These pockets of time were gifts. In retrospect, that was not a healthy point of view (especially when you consider the 6-8-hour time shift between where I lived and where I landed…). Yes, I was very productive, and that felt good. But in reality, it meant I wasn’t prioritizing my own needs (starting with sleep – jet lag is real). Taking for time for yourself is a skill, one we are not taught how to do. Notice I didn't say asking for time - if you make it sound optional by asking, instead of telling yourself/someone else that you need time, you won't get it. Don't leave this up to the permission of others. It is up to each of us to empower this for ourselves, allowing us to meet our own needs in an environment where there are others with their own, sometimes competing, needs. Regular time off helps you to reduce the health issues that come with over-work and over-commitment to work; including high blood pressure, high blood sugar and abnormal cholesterol levels. Essentially these are the factors that put you at risk for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Taking time away from work, including sustained vacation time (7-14 days) can make the difference between staying healthy the rest of the year and burning out your health, forcing you to take time off to recover. Professionals who take a consistent time off, and really make it a break from work, have advantages over those who don’t. Over the course of a year their productivity will be more consistent than those who didn't give themselves a real break. Professionals who take time away from work also experience fewer dips and swings in their motivation, focus, energy and creativity throughout the year. Stepping back, taking a complete break from work is key to reducing burnout risk because it keeps the tunnel vision at bay. Taking time away from work breaks both the "status-quo" bias and the hyper-focus on all the “to do’s”, the expectations, the deadlines… providing a perspective that nourishes all of you, not just the work you do. When was the last time you took time just for you? Not for the kiddo’s, not to get errands done. Time to do something you wanted to do (not something you should or had to do)? It’s a healthy thing to plan for, taking time you’ve earned just for yourself; we plan for family vacations, but do you plan for an hour, or a day, of time for yourself? This doesn’t always mean taking time off work to do it, but if you have enough earned time, why not (that overtime isn't going to use itself)? As it turns out, taking time for yourself also requires practice to break with the "status-quo" habit of doing the same routine everyday (which includes reaching for that phone to check e-mail). A past client of mine opted to take a day off each month in the summer, and just enjoy it. Sounds good right? What happened was she enjoyed a leisurely breakfast coffee…and then took a phone call and was on-line with work for the rest of the day. Or she would get anxious and decided to do some work in “stealth mode” (looking off-line but in reality, being connected to do work on what was supposed to be a day off). Sometimes taking time for yourself has a learning curve. I know my own “me time” can easily get consumed with work, or family needs, if I don’t have an intention for that time (like pajamas and a good book). Where are you in the "leaving work alone" learning curve? Can you, without guilting yourself, take an hour, an afternoon or a day and do things just for yourself that help you to re-charge and take a break from the hectic pace of work and life?
This is an important skill to cultivate, empowering you to put yourself first (even if just for a little while). Particularly now as we start the slow "good-bye" to summer and contemplate back to school and more ambitious work schedules, how do you hang on to your "summer glow" and stay connected to both yourself and your work in a meaningful way that lets what you do nourish you? Work to live, not live to work. Being coached by Carleen I cultivated the ability to have compassion for myself, and learned to better appreciate myself, as well as the others around me. I am so grateful for our time together."
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