My client said: “I just want to take two weeks off and not check my emails”.

Such a simple yet profound request.

I’m sure many of you can relate?

Or have you really made it through the weekend without doing any work?

If you did have to work – then maybe this is for you.

It’s a common theme I hear from busy business leaders in my coaching sessions. How to avoid working when you’re supposed to be off, when you’re supposed to be spending time with your family or friends. Be somewhere else and maybe just let your mind wander.

Some people don’t even know what that means anymore. Let your mind wander. Just doing nothing. Sitting and letting thoughts come and go. Without getting attached to them.

Because most of them will be about the past or the future, and if you give in to them, you might just end up back at the computer reading someone’s email. That could have been a phone call at work tomorrow.

It’s often “just” a quick email check while you’re on holiday, or maybe on a Sunday evening to “be ready for the week ahead”. Maybe a first check in bed on Monday morning?

Before you take your first sip of coffee, put your brain on high alert.

I often hear excuses about this. Have you ever wondered if you’re addicted to your job and can’t stop working? Or what if you are the only one who can really do the job? It could also be fear of missing out. Something important is happening right now that you need to be aware of.

Our longing to disconnect from the hustle

The hard truth is: We need our time off. It’s as simple as that. And this is what my clients often realise (as a coach, it’s not my job to give them this opinion or direction).

But this is what materialises: They have a longing to disconnect from work and even from technology. But they can’t find a way to do it.

And that’s where coaching can be such a transformational force: you have to find the motivation within yourself. You have to want to change something about your situation. That’s not the coach’s job. I can only guide you to find that answer.

But once you get there, you will find that the answer comes from deep inside you. That it is speaking to you and that it is exactly what you have been looking for. And you can take it, implement it and see things change for the better.

Wouldn’t that be great?

Maybe FOMO is in your way

And back to my client. “What if I miss something important?”, “What if something happens and I’m not there to deal with it?

“While you’re skiing and your team is taking care of things?” I wanted to know.

He needed to realise that not everything depended on him.

And that the business would continue whether he was there or not.

That checking emails on days off was adding to his stress and having a negative impact on him,

and that his late night emails were stressing others out,

which affected their performance.

Finally, he said:

“Maybe it’s not all about my work and maybe my work isn’t all about me”.

Such a simple yet profound answer for him.