There are many ways to “shake out the cobwebs” and get a new perspective.
At one of my prior jobs it would sometimes become so intense during the Board meetings that when I left I would put the top down on my convertible and drive home the 40-60 miles like that – even when it was overcast! I’d just simply turn up my heater, and even though it was foggy, the air rushing past my ears just helped to get rid of the pressure and stuffiness of the people I was dealing with.
Another great way to clear your head is to go someplace totally different. This could be for a day, for a week, or in my case, for 5 weeks!
Next Sunday we fly out for a week in Australia and then 4 more in New Zealand. My husband’s brother and family live in New Zealand, the native land of our sister-in-law.
I am very much looking forward to having a wonderful experience and coming back with a totally new perspective. I’ve told my husband that I think this will change everything.
By that I mean we will be away from our normal routine for 5 weeks. We will specifically NOT be working (although I will check the internet every few days). We will be doing some very fun things – like snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, visiting a rainforest, black water rafting through glow worm caves, visiting glaciers, taking an overnight cruise in Milford Sound, taking a silver metal clay class, and a bone carving class from a Maori, and all the time in between, just being together and enjoying the country!
It’s an opportunity to revisit what’s important to us – the first time we’ve really had a chance to do that since we first got together 15 years ago.
So, it won’t change who I am or what my values are, but it certainly will shake up the priorities I’ve developed in the past 2 years working for the organization that currently employs me. And having what I consider to be a relatively significant time totally away (on the other side of the world) will certainly give me room and time to consider where I want to go from here and where I want to be in the next 2-3 years!
For a perspective on why I think vacations are an important part of your working life, read my post at Career Life Strategies.
For a slightly different perspective that focuses more on the synchronicity of doing what you love, read my post at my gratitude blog, ER=100x