Leadership is a marathon, it isn’t a sprint.
We are living in challenging times, and the past 6 months have been extra stressful for leaders. Effective leaders make a conscience effort to make sure they have the energy, focus and persistence to excel over the long-haul. Here are 5 actions leaders can take to rejuvenate themselves:
1. Stay off of email from 7pm – 7am. This gives you a break, and candidly, it gives your team a break as well. (Yes, your team needs a break from you.) It also gives you time to do something else besides focus on work.
2. Take walks early in the morning and in the evening while listening to a book, podcast, music or even nothing. Doing this will bring you a sense of peace and relaxation.
3. Find a hobby which you can pursue in the early mornings, evenings and/or on the weekends. Having something else besides work in which to focus your attention will increase your energy…and it will force you to take time away from work.
4. Pick one day of the weekend to refrain from doing any work – no emails, no paperwork, etc. Completely shut it down for one day a week.
5. Take a vacation with a commitment to not doing any work…seriously, no work for at least a few days. (I suspect many of you need this right now!)
Leadership is a marathon, it isn’t a sprint. For you to be effective over the long term, you must take time to focus on rejuvenating yourself.