Time off for good behaviour

I've been feeling, of late, that I don't have much to say in my morning postings.

This is a fact that I'm largely attributing to over-work. I need some time off to open up my synapses. This past weekend away, while great, wasn't enough to fill up the tank.

I had a great conversation with someone about the subject of time off on Saturday night. This someone has a big job. Bigger than mine will ever be. He's the executive director of an international NGO with projects in developing countries around the world -- many of them in war zones.

His agency responds to emergencies -- natural disasters and the annoying ones created by humans -- and also works in longer term projects. He's the buck-stops-here guy for 70 staff at HQ and 3,000 in the field.

Like I said...big job.

He has five weeks of annual leave and he takes it all. More than that, he insists that the people who work for him take all their time off, too.

"You're no good to me if you're burned out," he says. "You'll be smarter, quicker and make better decisions if you've had the time to relax and unwind."

What a great example to set.

My boss recently took three weeks in a row off. A well-deserved rest.

This is almost unheard of in agency land. She needed to get a special papal dispensation to do it, and probably felt some angst in being away that long.

Imagine.

Heaven forbid that the world be without advertising for five minutes.

So, today I salute my vacation. Coming in May, to a theatre near you. And pray for the perspective a that I know comes from time off.