Leadership Systems

by David Lennard

You have one bar of power left on your cell phone and you have misplaced the recharger.  This could also describe how many people feel today about their work and personal lives.  You have enough power to make one call so please consider what that will be.  You need to use that remaining energy wisely.

Too often we feel like we just don’t have time to think, we can only react.   With the non-stop invasion of emails, texts and tweets, it’s close to impossible to have any down time.  This technology was supposed to make us work smarter, not harder.  Guess what has happened?  Then add on the rest of life and our responsibilities.

The way we used to recharge was vacation.  It was the time to get away from the daily grind and take a step back, to rest and to reflect on life.  Now for too many, it’s just become work in a pretty setting.  Technology has certainly changed the way business operates and in many ways, it’s a vast improvement.  But there is a cost to pay. 

In a recent study done by Yahoo.com they found that 49% of workers said they feel burned out by their jobs but don’t use their vacation time as a remedy.  45% of the workers polled said they didn’t use all of their vacation days in 2006 and 39% said they were too tired to even take a vacation during their days off.

The Professional Renewal Center in Lawrence, Kan., is a career rehab for executives who have major issues in the workplace, including sexual harassment, substance abuse, or emotional issues.  Employers refer executives to the center for treatment that lasts up to seven weeks.  One thing the burned-out patients usually have in common, says Professional Renewal Center CEO Kirtsen Judd, “They never took vacation.”

I don’t care how smart you are, how hard you work and how much you care; everyone needs time away from the job, both physically and mentally.  People are not machines, but even machines get preventative maintenance and some industries also require records to prove it.  Sadly, we don’t apply the same fundamental beliefs about the importance of this to ourselves.

You need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others, and that includes the people you work with.  Many parents react to this with the comment that ‘their children come first’, and that is certainly true in their hearts.  But if you are disabled either physically or emotionally, then are you really helping anyone?  Or do they need to help you?  Caring for and about others means you have to care for yourself too, but that part’s easy to forget.  You have to make the time to take care of yourself and you have to make it a priority.  Saying you don’t have time is just an excuse, and not a good one at that.