Getting a Do-Over - I Would Have Pedaled Slower (Part Trois)

Getting a Do-Over - I Would Have Pedaled Slower (Part Trois)

All work is spiritual work. All work has meaning beyond the surface realities of a job, a production schedule, a product, or a paycheck. All work concerns spirit and soul and involves our ability to connect them with surface realities.^a —Dick Richards

I STOLE FROM my employers. And I have stolen from my clients. And I’m ashamed. If I could do it over, once a quarter I would have pedaled slower on a Friday.

When we fail to invest in our own mental wellness, we rob those we work for and those we work with. Our employers and our customers need us at our best, but we often neglect the feeding and clearing of our mind because we feel we can’t afford to take the time off. But we need a new perspective on this topic: taking time off is not a luxury—it’s an investment in your productivity for the rest of the quarter!

Climbing the corporate ladder, I didn’t take all my vacation days because I felt I couldn’t afford to be out of the office. There was always so much work to do, and taking time off for anything other than family vacations or the kids’ sick days was, in my mind, not what professionals do to get ahead. Looking back, I realize I cheated my employer and myself from my best work.

Regardless of our roles—from moms, to CEOs, to line workers—creativity is a basic requirement. Problem solving, working with employees, and improving processes all require some level of creativity. But we’re not creative when our minds have become dead weight from physical, emotional, and mental stressors.

Only in the last few years have I learned that it takes energy, enthusiasm, and time away from the office to be creative in the office. Not once in all these years of writing has an idea for my Truth Nuggets come to me while I was sitting in my office or at my computer. Instead, my creative juices have been stimulated while riding a bicycle, running, driving my car, listening to music, or playing with my family. You’re never going to have your best ideas when you’re constantly staring at a computer screen or sitting in a gray cube.

He renews my strength.He guides me along right paths,bringing honor to his name. (Psalm 23:3)

I wish I had pedaled slower on one Friday per quarter to melt my brain freeze and renew my mind and spirit. You need a day off too.

^a Dick Richards, Artful Work, 56.