Recharge Your Management Battery

[tconnor]

Management Tips #256
Recharge Your Management Battery

Few people can go a hundred miles an hour – day after day after day – without a break of some kind. I don’t care how invincible you think you are, sooner or later we all need to step away from the plate and take a new perspective and get a different view of our life, career, day, year or whatever.

I recently heard an executive say that he hadn’t taken a vacation in 5 years. That, my friends, is a mild form of brain damage. How can we keep things in a proper perspective if we never look at life from a different vantage point? How can we maintain our creativity, imagination and energy if we never take a break?

I am reminded of the old Earl Nightingale story about the two lumberjacks who were cutting down trees. One lumberjack took a break every few hours while the other one chopped away only stopping for lunch. At the end of the day, the one who took the breaks had cut down more trees than the other one. In exasperation, the less productive lumberjack asked, “how are you able to cut down more trees than I am while you are taking all of these breaks?” The other one replied, “Did you notice that while I was taking a break, I was also sharpening my ax?”

There is a great truth in this simple example. We all need to sharpen our ax on a regular basis. Refusing to, is to invite the negative consequences of un-managed stress which are; burn-out, poor judgment, the inability to use all of our creative ability, and a general lack of productivity.

How do you relax? How often do you step away from the plate to rest your mind, spirit and body? I am all for pouring it on. I love to work, and I love to play. I love to do nothing, and I love to create. One of my popular books, The Road to Happiness is full of Potholes, was written in three weeks, during a number of marathon writing spells between midnight and 4 A.M.

When it was complete, I had a book that I like, am proud of, and is really good. But after it was done, I took several days and relaxed in specific ways that are beneficial for me.

I have friends who work hard and then play hard, and I have friends who only work hard. Life is more than our work. Our work is a reflection of our purpose and destiny, but it shouldn’t consume us. Take time out to have some fun, play, relax, do nothing. It won’t kill you to spend some time meditating or in quiet reflection.

Take a walk in the woods for several hours. Enjoy nature. Enjoy yourself. You might find that when you get back to the grindstone, you are more refreshed and capable of better decisions and results in less time with less effort.

[Addison_Rose]

thanks for your information