Time for Rest and Reflection
Reflection is in the air. Last week, Mike Henry posted a fine piece titled: “Three Reasons Why Leaders Fail to Reflect.” This week, I saw two more posts on related topics.
Personal MBA asked “Are You Trying to Be a Robot?” And, at the Practice of Leadership, George Ambler advised us to leave some unscheduled time in our days.
I don’t know what triggered this burst of posts. But they raise important issues for you if you want both a successful career and a satisfying life.
All three posts call attention to the importance of down time. Life is not an extreme sport. To perform at your best you need time for rest and recovery.
Don’t try to get by on less and less sleep. It might make you more productive in the short term but it will eat your psychological well-being in the long term.
And don’t work all the time when you’re awake, either. It’s tempting. And it’s easy with technology that can bring your work right into the bedroom with you.
They don’t call it “Crackberry” for nothing. It’s because so many people get addicted to sending and receiving email all the time. Half of them keep their device near them when they sleep so they can hear when a new message comes in.
That’s not just sick by itself. It will make you sick. And unproductive to boot.
Take breaks. Take time during your work day to do something else. Go for a walk. Go for lunch with friends. And leave the Crackberry off. Make your schedule more human-friendly.
Use some of that time to reflect. When I studied top performing supervisors years ago, one thing that set the top performers apart was that they critiqued their own performance.
Today, in my Working Supervisor’s Support Kit, in my blogs and to classes and coaching clients, I suggest developing the habit of reflection and self-critique. Keep a notebook. Make notes on how you do.
Then set aside time to reflect on what you’ve noted. Make a little time every week to review how you’ve done and think about how you could do things differently.
Take time for yourself. Turn off the communications spigot. And use some of that time for reflection. A better life and career await.