The Value of Vacation for Change and Project Professionals
Taking time off for a vacation sometimes seems overwhelming. Arranging coverage, reorganizing calendars, finding home and pet care can start to make you wonder whether it’s worth it to disconnect and get away from the routines we have carefully crafted. But the moment the last task is handled, our freedom begins.
Recognizing the value of this mental freedom is essential for project and change management professionals who spend a great deal of time mentally living in the future state of project plans and change initiatives. Preparing to step away from work for more than a week or two is like planning a project. Before we can leave, we must make sure people know what needs to happen. We clarify who is handling what and think through what could come up while we are gone. We close loops, leave notes, and try to create stability so that our responsibilities will keep moving without us. In some ways, preparing for vacation looks a lot like preparing for change. There is a current state, a transition state, and a vision of the future state. The current state is the normal rhythm of meetings, tasks, decisions, emails, family routines, and all of the tasks that knit life together. The transition state is where the suitcase is half packed, the out-of-office message is on your mind, and a sense of impending chaos tempts us to stay put. The future state is the moment we finally let go and exhale, remembering why we wanted to go in the first place.
For project and change professionals, the hard part of stepping away is that we are used to scanning the horizon for risks to the transition. Whether we are anticipating stakeholder and sponsor communication issues or preparing to respond to questions or resistance, our planning and scanning habits can make it harder to fully rest.
That is why mental freedom matters. It is more than being away from work. It is the space that opens when we stop planning and thinking of every next step in our head.
Some of our best thinking happens when we aren’t trying so hard to think. The lack of a to-do list, a quiet morning coffee, or an afternoon with no agenda can give our mind the relaxation and permission to let go and breathe.
This is especially important in project and change work which requires judgment, empathy, creativity, patience, and the ability to see patterns across systems and people. Which is hard to access when we are depleted. Even though we may produce work and attend meetings, our ability to listen deeply and guide people through transition and uncertainty can become diluted.
When we return, the work is still there. Projects need attention, sponsors will need support, and stakeholders will still have questions or concerns. Our time away won’t make timelines, risks, or adoption challenges disappear. Yet we may come back with more capacity and see a problem differently or have more patience for someone frustrated with change. Taking time off may begin as one more transition to manage, but it can become a reminder that our minds need room to reset and recover. For those of us who help people and organizations move into what is next, that kind of freedom is not a luxury. It is part of staying ready.
