From burnout to breakthrough: The CEO’s guide to switching off and thriving

ILLUSTRATION BY RUTH MACAPAGAL

Successful CEOs and business owners understand the importance of switching off and recharging after work, and they prioritize their well-being to achieve sustainable success. In this article, we will explore how successful CEOs disconnect from work, the benefits they derive from doing so and practical strategies for business leaders to implement in their own lives.

The benefits of switching off and recharging

It’s no secret that many people in today’s business world regularly feel overwhelmed.

This has accelerated in the past 10 to 15 years because of the constant accessibility, which was not there before. Now it’s email; it’s a smartphone. It’s 24/7.

Most businessmen and women feel they must be available and accessible 24/7, whether they are an executive, a board member, CEO or business owner.

But if we behave like that, we eventually do not operate at our best and never reach our full potential because we need those moments when we completely switch off. If we don’t switch off regularly, we keep busy at some point, but we’re not necessarily getting better at whatever we do. We’re not necessarily becoming more effective. We call that “work for work’s sake.”

As a business leader, your goal is to produce results and to make the best strategic decisions for your business. Any idiot can be busy.

A wise man once said, “Everything needs an “on” and an “off” switch.” Even a fighter jet needs to refuel.

More benefits

One of my friends has built a highly successful business and has more money than anyone can spend in multiple lifetimes, but his body is a wreck and his relationships are a mess. So what is it all for, then? True success is 360 degrees.

• Enhanced mental and physical well-being: Disconnecting from work allows CEOs to recharge their energy levels, reduce stress and promote overall well-being. It improves mental clarity, creativity and decision-making abilities.

• Improved focus and productivity: Taking time away from work enables CEOs to gain perspective, reflect on their strategies and return with renewed focus and productivity.

• Enhanced leadership skills: Switching off allows CEOs to step back and think strategically, which leads to better long-term planning, innovation and effective delegation.

• Better work-life integration: CEOs prioritizing time for themselves outside work create a healthier work-life balance, setting an example for their teams and fostering a positive organizational culture.

How successful CEOs switch off and recharge

How do you do that most effectively as a business leader? I remember sitting together with the CEO of Puma at a monastery in Germany over 10 years ago. He explained to me that he takes a break once a year, where he retreats to a monastery for a few days. This was highly effective for him.

But in my role as advisor to the presidents of some of the world’s largest companies and my company’s work with business executives and board members across the globe, we have seen that executives need tools they can use daily to be most effective.

Google’s secrets and being in the “zone”

If you have ever visited the Google headquarters in Silicon Valley, you know that they have a variety of activities that allow their employees to take “mini vacations” and switch off for a few minutes.

They have free massages, lap pools, gyms, video games, pool tables, giant Hulk statues, bikes for people to ride, ping-pong tables; the list goes on and on. Why? Because they want to offer every one of the Google employees activities they can engage in to get their minds off the problems they are working on.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are brilliant. They know that we’re most creative when we take our minds off a problem and then go back to the problem. That’s one of the secrets behind creativity, innovation and the creative process.

You will not get breakthrough solutions if you’re constantly hammering away at a problem. So the key is to get your mind regularly into these periods where it is in what we call a “free drive.” Some call that the “flow state.” Athletes call it the “zone.”

Find your “one” activity

It does not matter what you call it, as long as it lets you switch off completely and forget all about work. That is the yardstick by which you should measure if that activity works for you: if you are still thinking about work while doing it.

One of my clients said, “Ah, I play golf. That is my go-to activity to recharge.”

“When you are golfing, do you still think about work?” I asked him. “Yes, I do, actually,” he replied.

“Then this is not the activity you are looking for,” I said. We then did some more digging to discover that another one of his passions, photography, was the one activity that allowed him to switch off 100 percent.

Remember: It can be short. It should not be complicated. It just has to work for you. Even if the activity might be silly, do not worry about it. If you enjoy it and it allows you to switch off completely, do it!

That is unique for every one of us. Out of our CEO and business owner clients, these activities vary as the rainbow under the sun: baking, painting, playing golf, surfing, playing with their kids, taking a walk in the park and meditating.

One CEO in Manila who was heading a very large corporation discovered that the best activity for her was to sit at the dinner table after the family had gone and just let her thoughts come and go for an hour every evening.

You have to find at least one activity that works for you.

Switching off is a muscle— Make it a habit

Now you need to be diligent about scheduling that activity into your days. Religiously. It is easy to get lost in all your to-dos. Remember: 10 to 15 minutes may be all it takes. Make it simple. Complexity is the enemy of execution.

And do not make the mistake of thinking: when I get to that long vacation in Hawaii, Spain, Paris or wherever, then I will switch off. No, you won’t! Because switching off is a muscle. You have to practice it daily. Otherwise, you will get that vacation and still have enormous challenges not to think about work all the time.

Have trouble going to sleep?

Many of our clients have trouble going to sleep. They are under much pressure, and most are handling and owning some of the largest businesses in the world.

I give them a simple but highly effective tool I will share with you now. When you go to your bedroom at night, use the door threshold as a trigger to tell yourself, “Now I am going to switch off and leave work behind.” This is a powerful posthypnotic suggestion that works wonders.

For all the workaholics, yes, you have guessed it correctly: No more emails or work-related reading in bed. And no business phone calls, either!

Here is to your happier, less stressed, more balanced, more prosperous and healthier future self! INQ

Tom Oliver, a “global management guru” (Bloomberg), is the chair of The Tom Oliver Group, the trusted advisor and counselor to many of the world’s most influential family businesses, medium-sized enterprises, market leaders and global conglomerates. For more information and inquiries: www.TomOliverGroup.com or email
[email protected].