Why You Should Leave Your Laptop: Finding Healthy Rhythms and Rest
It’s embarrassing to share. Meg and I went to Hawaii to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We hung out for a little over a week on the beach. The most stressful part of packing was weighing whether I should bring my laptop or not. Should I capitalize airport time, flight time and down time at the beach to stay on top of things and keep prepping for a busy fall? I can spin it many ways, but the question was really: Should I work on my anniversary trip because I’m afraid of what will happen if I don’t? Can the world survive a week of me fully checking out? How ridiculous is that? Meg and I are about to take our dream anniversary trip and I’m worried about whether I should work or not work!!
Have you ever been there? You've been prepping for a family trip and part of your prep is how to keep working while still resting and focusing on your family? Do we really wonder why mental illness, stress, exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and isolation our plaguing our workplaces, homes and communities?
Do we wonder why it’s such a challenge to move up in our careers and increase work capacity while continuing to fall more in love with our spouses and invest in our children?
Here’s how ridiculous I can be:
Should I wake up, drink amazing Kona Coffee with my bride while listening to the ocean ... or ... check my email and keep prepping for an upcoming strategy session?
Should I snorkel, surf, and enjoy the rest ... or ... work on clarifying our next Distilled experience?
Should I focus on where to eat with my wife of 20 years ... or ... hone my calendar for October?
Thankfully, commonsense and courage kicked in the night before we flew out and I left the computer. Somehow, we survived. We survived because I have an awesome team and amazing clients.
What’s the point of this post?
Leaders – we will not be healthy leaders without healthy rhythms and rest. Here are a few examples of healthy rhythms.
Check Out: Actually invest in your family on weekend trips, vacations and family dinners. Fight the urge to justify working all hours all the time.
Exercise: Break a sweat and exercise a few times a week to keep your body working the way it’s made to work.
Game Plan: Walk through the weekly schedule with your significant other and kids to help mitigate unneeded stress in the week. Find ways to support one another, where you need more support and how to manage a busy week without letting the busyness ruin your week. Plan a family dinner, plan a mini-date, and plan on investing in your children.
We are back from vacation and our life is back in full swing once again, just like yours. Meg is in her final semester of grad school. Titus is in his senior year. Elliott is in his freshman year. Ezra is a 5th grader. Alice is a first grader.
Right now, I'm balancing: four sports teams, music lessons and a lot of different schools for the kids. I’m traveling for work. I'm attending weekend soccer trips. I'm investing in my kids' faith and trying to fully maximize a big year for our family. Healthy rhythms are key to staying healthy. They are key to staying rooted in purpose and making an impact that leaves a legacy we want to remember.
Reach out if you need help loving life at work and loving life at home.
(Note: We didn’t make it to Maui, but our hearts are breaking over the destruction. Find ways to help if you can).
Three intentional steps either to find better rhythms and incorporate appropriate rest in your leadership: [ryan@insightlg.com]:
Virtual Coffee: Let's chat about your leadership. What do you see when you look at your team?
Executive Coaching: Prepare yourself to make the right shifts in approach to lead with effectiveness and drive the results you want to see.
Lead with Courage & Conviction: Learn more about our executive leadership experiences that prepare you to leave a legacy worth remembering.
