Is your holiday a calendar entry or a licence to recharge your batteries?
Imagine this: the summer holiday begins. Work email is officially on silent, but your head is in overdrive. Vacation days are busy from dawn to dusk - trips, parties, renovations, meetings, “now's the time” projects. Days easily become a new to-do list. The only difference is that you don't get paid for these jobs. The manager's holiday stress was not a myth, but a reality.
Sound familiar?
Far too many people return from holiday more exhausted than when they left. Not because the work is too hard - but because we no longer know how to rest and recover. And this is especially true for managers and front-line workers, who are still burdened with responsibilities even when their phones are in airplane mode.
As a leader, you set the direction - also in terms of rest and recovery. If you don't stop, neither will your team. And if no one stops, there's no point in expecting much in the way of business results in the second half of the year.
A holiday is a real investment
Think for a moment: when was the last time you gave yourself permission to really rest?
A holiday is not an empty space in the calendar. It is a place where recovery happens. And recovery looks different for each of us. For some, it is silence and stillness, for others it is action and adventure. For some, relaxation is found in a hammock, for others in a marathon.
It's not the habit that matters - it's the feeling: how do you feel when everyday life starts again? Comfortably rested or completely knackered and thinking only that ”great to get to work and rest!”?
When you return to work really restored, you'll be in a better frame of mind to make decisions, lead people and face the pressures of everyday life. At the same time, you are a model for others - that recovery is part of performance, not the opposite. People who recover well on holiday are more productive employees, as proven by research.
If you just run your holiday as one project among others, no one will benefit in the end. Not you, not your loved ones, not your work community.
So get into a good position and stop for just a moment. Think:
- What really makes you relax?
- How do you know if you've really recovered - and when was the last time you felt it?
- If you could choose one way to keep the holiday spirit with you in your everyday life,
what would it be? - If your holiday calendar is full, where can you lighten up?
- How have you ensured that you don't have to think about autumn tasks during your holidays?
When you stop for a moment, you might discover what you need most. To quote loosely from a major Finnish brand - a rested mind, a more productive autumn.
Have a good, relaxing and recharging summer - let's enjoy it to the full.
