Why time off makes you MORE productive.

In the US, we have this concept of earning vacation time.

Your HR system accrues so much vacation time for every pay period. It does that for accounting reasons. I’m not saying that’s “wrong” – it’s just a misunderstanding of time-off.

When we work hard, we deplete ourselves. That’s why, no matter how engaged you are in meaningful and fulfilling work, you’re tired at the end of a long day or week.

When you run a growing agency, you get paid for your creative problem-solving. No one comes to you with routine, straightforward problems. They come to you to solve the big, hairy ones that don’t have a clear right answer, and your ability to do that work well takes a lot of energy.

You earn worktime by taking time off!

Doing your job successfully takes resilience, creativity, and brain-power, and each of those things rapidly degrade when you get tired, frustrated, or spend too much time in the office.

“By getting away from work and letting the mind get involved in thinking, hobbies and rejuvenation, you come back to the job and produce results faster.”

Dan Sullivan

The time you spend away from the office, not thinking about work, makes you productive when you are in the office.

I will be out of the reach of radio waves for the next couple of weeks; I look forward to coming back with more resilience, creativity, and energy. What are you going to do to get some time away from work?