Reading Time: 5 minutes

What’s all the hype about?

As it is World Mental Health Awareness Week we thought we would take a look at how we avoid burnout in the Wired Plus office.

The week is an initiative run by the Mental Health Foundation to raise awareness of stress.

Taking Time Off Is Important at Wired Plus

The balance between putting work in and taking time off to recuperate is a challenge for many startups.  We are no different.

To make Wired Plus a success, we know that we will have to put in many hours of hard work.  Early starts and late finishes are part of the process.

Being relentless sometimes seems like the only option but we know that we can’t be like that all the time.

We know that taking time to recouperate and relax is important too.  Without taking time to relax and enjoy the world, productivity suffers.

Before our system launched, our team were close to burnout.

We needed to change.

Here’s how we manage our workload to achieve a productive and healthy workplace at Wired Plus.

Before the Launch

Before Wired Plus launched, our development team were working around the clock to make sure that our system was up to scratch.  Our marketing and accounts team were busy promoting the system to potential clients.  It left little time to rest.

We often found ourselves leaving the office well after hours.  Lunch hours were a product of our imagination as we found ourselves glued to our desks to make Wired Plus a success.

But you can’t work like that forever.

Our lead developer took some time away with his family in Switzerland but worked remotely for the whole week.  Whilst he was away, the rest of the office went into overdrive to get everything else finished.

It was crazy.

We held a lunch to celebrate the final day of testing but didn’t sit down until after 3pm (lunch is usually at 1pm!)!

Even then, we didn’t have much time before we headed back upstairs to complete a snagging list of outstanding jobs.

The whole team was exhausted.

Winding Down

Taking time off is not just a case of using up your Holiday allowance.  Perhaps a better way of looking at it is taking time out.

After months of working endlessly to get our startup off the ground we desperately needed to do just that.

There are many things that you can do to make your office environment a more balanced place to work and some of them even have benefits to your team’s sense of togetherness.

Here at Wired Plus you’ll often find us messing around on the dance mat in our lunch break or heading out for a stroll down the nearby canal.

Our location means that we have an ideal walking route which takes roughly 20 minutes – perfect for lunchtime.  We relished the chance to get out in the fresh air to stretch our legs.

The thing is, without these activities, we wouldn’t be as productive when we are sat at our desks.

Each time we break away from our desks is an opportunity to recharge and come up with new ideas.  I often find myself coming up with ideas for this blog when I am watching the horses on the other side of the canal.

It seems counter intuitive.  When walking down the canal, we rarely talk about work.  It’s our chance to catch up on each other’s social lives.

But when our minds are free to wander, we find that we are at our most creative.

The Benefits of Downtime

Don’t take our word for it.  There have been studies galore into the links between taking time off work and productivity.  All of them found a positive correlation between taking time out and becoming more productive.

The New York Times noted results from several companies which documented the positive correlation between sleep or holidays and productivity and effectiveness at work.

A 2013 study found improved performance in two tests of mental ability after exercise compared with a control group of non-exercisers.

The amazing thing about the study was that the results held true no matter the age of the subject.

Having some time away from work leaves our employees feeling recharged and motivated for the work ahead.  Whilst holidays and social activities don’t reduce the amount of work that needs to be done overall, they do help bring a new, fresher perspective.

Managing The Holiday Calendar

Even though we know the importance of getting away from the office for a bit, finding time to take holidays can be a challenge.

With such a small team, we have to make sure that we have all our bases covered before taking holidays.

Our team were so close to burnout that we had no option but to learn our lesson.

After a quick team meeting, we decided that each team member would take some time off over the course of the next two months.

It didn’t have to be a lot of time off, maybe just a day or two, but it had a big impact.

After returning to work, our team members were refreshed and ready to take on our next challenge.

So how do we make it work?

Before we leave our desk behind and head to the beach for some relaxation we ensure that only one person takes holidays at a time.  This may seem prohibitive and obviously there are some exceptions.

However, due to the small size of our team we know that we will be able to pull together to make things work when we are one team member short.

The holiday calendar is posted where everybody can see it.  This means that we can plan our holidays around each other to make sure that we all get our fair share.

We also spend time planning how we can get work done with less available team members.

If our head designer takes a holiday, we know that we need to plan any images and animations well in advance.  Likewise with our marketing team.

Each member of our team is happy to multitask but we don’t all have the same skill set.

We set out a plan each time a team member takes a holiday, managing our workloads and target setting accordingly.

A More Productive Office

The best thing about our new approach to taking time to relax is that our producitivity levels have increased.

It can be easy to look at the calendar and see a holiday booking whilst thinking solely of the lost office hours.

Yet, even with less time to get through the same amount of work we have found that we are more effective.

On reflection, that increase in productivity results from two things:  Energy and focus.

If you want to be more productive work less.

Find a balance and enjoy what you do.

We don’t buy into the work smarter not harder mantra but we do believe in giving our team the time off and perspective they need to be at their very best.

The post Why taking time off is important in a startup business… appeared first on Wired Plus Marketing Hub.