Take a break, Doctors Orders
As we traverse the Christmas Holiday Season, are you still working?
In my experience, it is the executives who adopt strategies to manage their work environment, but also give themselves adequate time away from the desk to rest and recharge, who will not only vastly improve their quality of life, but their ability to perform at work, at the /eve/ expected of them.
And we have the data to prove it.
Ford Health’s Executive data shows that improved work performance is directly linked to taking adequate time away from the desk.
Our Health Economist mapped the holiday habits of 500 Executives that take part in our Executive Health Assessment program. The results showed that those executives who take at least three weeks of annual leave each year performed better across all areas of their work than those who didn’t take three weeks holiday.
The findings also show that executives who take three weeks of annual leave each year coped better with stress, felt less anxious, had better sleep habits and performed at a much higher level across all aspects of their role.
“So we know it’s good to take a break, but it’s the length of time you take on that break and way you behave on that break that will determine if you successfully rest and rejuvenate your body and brain for the year ahead”
Some of Australia’s highest performing executives come through our programs at Ford Health and I’m continually amazed at how many of them do the “10 countries in 10 days” type holiday, when what they really need to do is disconnect from their devices and perhaps holiday in their own home!
It’s time that executives recognise the importance of, and make a commitment to taking holidays. Everyone needs to take a break, to disconnect, to allow themselves time to rest and recover, and create time away from the white noise to just sit and think.
It’s this break from the day-to-day that ultimately reconnect us to life in all its glorious complexities.