Companies such as Facebook and several universities are providing the entire week of Thanksgiving off. Why? Most of us are exhausted and need to take time off to rest and recharge so we can finish 2020 strong. I know some people just want 2020 to go away. As leaders, we need to, as we say in Texas, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, recharge and develop the momentum in December which will allow us to burst into 2021. How do we use the Thanksgiving holidays to recharge ourselves and encourage others to do the same?
Talk about it
Talk about recharging with friends, family, and co-workers. Let people express how burnt out they are and how they need to restore balance in their lives. This is a great time to express gratitude for the holiday coming up and how wonderful it will be to use this time to refresh ourselves. It is amazing how many people are seeing the time as a chance to collapse instead of a chance to recharge. If you help three people in your circle by reframing their thoughts about the upcoming break to “recharging” instead of “collapsing” consider the impact you will have.
Make a “recharge” list and share
It is one thing to say “yeah, I really do need to recharge during my time off”. It is quite another to make a list of things which will help you actually refresh yourself. I’m not talking about a list of 20 things. Don’t make this a stressful project. My list is usually on a scrap piece of paper that I check off as the days go by. Things like take a walk, ride my bike with my hubby, crochet, read a relaxing book, play cards with my son, and call a friend. You know what these things are for you. This keeps me from vegging out in front of the television for 3 days (not a recharging activity!).
Now, the key to this list is to share it. When we visit with a few people about our list and hear what activities recharge them, we get ideas. We think, oh, that sounds fun. Or, oh girl! I am not training for a marathon. You are crazy. Sharing encourages everyone involved and adds a touch of accountability because of course you will ask how the “recharging” went after the holiday.
No email / no work during holiday
No work, especially email. I’m serious. Make this the expected behavior. You know who your rule breakers are going to be. If you are the boss, watch for them. If you see an email from them, call them. Do not respond to the email, do not text, do not send a Slack message. Call them. Tell them to stop working. Remind them of the agreement and the pressure their working puts on other team members to respond during the holiday.
It is best to set the expectation early that people should not be working on company holidays but if you have not set this yet, now is the time to start. You are the one to lead the way. No one else is working so just stop. We work to live, not live to work. So go live during this holiday.
As a side note, if you are in a job search during this time, no one is reviewing resumes during the holiday. Again, we work to live, not live to work. Take a break from your job search as well during this time.
Encourage extra time off
If possible, encourage and allow people to take a day or two before and/or after the holiday. Especially those people who have been postponing their PTO. The people who have been postponing vacation time may have something special planned but you probably know that by now. Have the conversation. Some people cannot imagine what they will do at home for this much time. Covid-19 is not going anywhere anytime soon. We need to help people take time off and learn to enjoy their time at home.
The longer people get take off, the more recharged they can get their batteries and find their new normal at home. We want everyone refreshed when they return to work.
My challenge for you
Three (3) people - Help three people think about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday as a chance to recharge instead of collapse.
Make a list and share - Make a list of 3 or more things you will do during your holiday to recharge yourself and share with 3 people.
No email - Lead by example. Stop emailing people after business hours, on weekends and especially during holidays now. If something is critical, people will call or text you.
Extra time - If you lead people, review PTO balances and see if at least one person should probably take extra time around this holiday. I bet you have someone who has not taken PTO in quite a while and could really use it.
Take an hour over the coming days and focus on this. You and those around you will go into the holidays full of hope and excited to recharge. Let’s finish 2020 strong and burst into 2021.
I hope you will connect with me on LinkedIn and share your recharge plans.
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