Phil Harrison Coaching

Yes, I know that it is nearing vacation season. No, the title isn’t a typo. In a recent version of the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, Nieuwhof shared statistics about how many people go on their vacation and return to work to quickly find they are burned out again. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 41% of workers find that they are at burnout levels within one week of getting back from a vacation. 

So how do we ensure that we aren’t part of that 41%? Put some thought and planning into your vocation time. In his podcast, Nieuwhof recommends the following four strategies:

1. Conduct An Audit. Look back at your recent year. Look at your time spent. Where did your time go? How much time did you spend in meetings? Did the tasks you completed reflect your highest priorities? How much time did you spend online? Look at your energy spent. When was your energy at its best? Which time of day or month had your best energy? Look at your commitments. What did you do that you shouldn’t have done?
2. Make Categorical Decisions. Armed with information from your audit, begin to think about big categories like meetings and events. Make some overarching decisions. For example, make a decision regarding the amount of time you’ll allocate to meetings each week, the type of meetings you’ll take, or the amount of time you’ll give to each meeting. Maybe give yourself one day per week where you take no meetings. Use that type of categorical decision making regarding events and other things that take a lot of your time.
3. Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time. Look at your day. Identify the hours where your energy is at its best (the green zone). Identify the hours where your energy is the worst (the red zone). Everything in between is not the best, not the worst, and still workable (the yellow zone). Commit to doing what you are best at when you are at your best!
4. Find Something To Focus On Outside Of Work. Be intentional about not working when you are away from work by having a plan to do something not work related. Let’s face it, with the digital tools we have, any minute we sit down without a plan for something else can drift into a work period. Do that repeatedly, and you’ll burn out. Nieuhof recommends frequent two hour vacations. In other words, find something not work related to do for two hours on a regular basis just to give yourself a break!

As you prepare for the summer break that is now upon us, take some time to do some vocation planning. If you take the time now, you’ll find that you are less prone to burnout when you return, and you’ll make things a little better each day!