On my last post (What’s the point in taking holiday if work gets in the way!?) I talked about how I was "trying" to get the team up to operate without me, and how I was planning to be totally off the grid on holiday.
Did it work?
I have to be honest, on the way back into work, there was a bit of fear about what I would find.
However, It should have come as no surprise to me that everything worked out well. We did a number of product updates & supported our clients - all with no dramas. And all without me in the picture.
Mission accomplished... but that was only half of the picture.
The other half was me recharging the batteries.
Do you know that feeling when you only fully relax towards the end of the holiday? Only then do you feel that you are truly on holiday… but then it’s too late, you need to go back.
Part of this is that we’ve become so conditioned to working that it feels weird when we stop doing it for more than a couple of days. But the other part is about control.
It’s important to empower the team to have control when you’re not there by letting go; but it’s important to empower yourself to let go of work too… In fact it’s only healthy to empower people when you’re able to let go too.
So that’s what I did, I remembered to do both parts (which I don’t often do). I let go for the team, and then I let go for myself. And it felt great.
Maybe some people find it easy, but as someone who naturally wants to control things, I often find it hard.
I’m now trying to let go of more things without needing a holiday, to to see how that changes how I work and feel.
BTW, how good are you at letting go at work?