With the holiday period fast approaching many of us will be getting away having been firing on all cylinders and it serves us best if we can take a complete break rather than allowing work to intermittently or continuously interfere. Easier said than done! How can we resist the temptation to stay connected to work -dialling into calls, checking inboxes and making ourselves available for those urgent issues? Here’s why a proper break is good for us and beneficial to our high-performance driver.

• 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱. It helps your health, creativity and energy eroding over the long term.
• 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽. Don’t do what I do and set an alarm on holiday!
• 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀. Prioritise your well-being. To be the best of the best, make decisions in service of that.
• 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀. Pro-athletes understand it's inthe recovery where the growth happens.
• 𝗕𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 – the impact it has on yourrelationships, mental clarity and decision making.
• 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂. Is it exercising, sleeping,reading, listening to an audiobook, or being at the beach with your children?
• 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 - to give it meaning and thepriority it deserves. How would you like to feel at the end of your break?Knowing that what do you need to do?
• 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Carefully choose how oftenand when works best for you and give yourself permission to adjust yourresponse times.
• 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝘆. It’s ok to have some alonetime.
• 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻? What will you really miss?
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If you check in with yourself around fatigue, stress levels and mental acuity, how are you REALLY doing? Be honest.