Do yourself (and your team) a favour, and switch off

We are fast approaching Christmas, many businesses will close for a few days, many, many people will be taking time off to spend time with loved ones or take a much needed break from work. We realise that there are also many who can't take a break, and this will be the most hectic time for them - a huge thank you if you're one of them.

When it comes to time off, we have found many managers and people leaders who struggle to really switch off. Most of us have access to our work emails and messages 24hrs a day, via our mobile phones, and this can have the unfortunate impact of making us feel as though we have to be available 24hrs a day.

We've spoken before about the importance of managers respecting down-time for their teams and colleagues - you may well tell your team that they don't need to respond to messages that you have sent out of hours, but the fact that a message is sitting there from the boss puts our minds into work mode when we should be recharging.

And for you? If your mind is on work when you're with your family, when are you getting a real chance to recharge? We realise that at times, working outside of your hours is a necessity, but for most people, it should be the occasional exception, not a regular occurrence.

So over the festive period, give yourself, and your team, a real break. Put your mind into work mode only if it's absolutely unavoidable. Focus on switching off and recharging your batteries, and give your teams the chance to do so too. You'll all benefit from it in the New Year.

Wishing you a peaceful break and a Happy Christmas from Peopletopia.