Turning It Off Vs Dialing It Down

Today is one of those days when everyone gets back to work after a time off. This holiday break was a particularly long one given that Christmas and New Years came in the middle of the week. So many of us are getting back to work after a particularly long break.

I am a huge believer in down time. I think everyone needs a break to step away from work and rest a bit. I also believe that time away from work clears the head and reveals things that are not always clear in the thick of things.

But I have struggled over the years between the choice of turning everything off vs dialing things down.

It is hard to get real rest and a clear head that comes with new insights if you don’t turn everything off and really disengage.

But coming back from time off when you truly disengaged is harder. There are more emails to answer, more people waiting at your door for answers, and so on and so forth.

I tend to dial it down when I take time off. I try to stay on top of important emails, memos, decks, presentations, scheduling efforts, and the like. I can usually keep that to an hour a day in the morning and another hour at the end of the day.

That makes days like today, when everyone gets back to business, a bit easier for me.

It does come at a cost as I don’t truly disengage, but I have found it to work better for me over the years. That said, I appreciate it when colleagues and others take the opposite approach and really disengage. There is real value to that approach too.