Permission to Switch Off

It’s the start of July, and across every leadership team I work with, the same conversation is starting to surface: people are beginning to think about their summer break. But something has shifted. The seasonal slowdown we used to rely on, the sense that organisations quietly dial things back over the summer, simply doesn’t happen in the way it used to. Full pelt is now the default, all year round.

Despite flexible working policies, despite well-being strategies, despite every leader’s genuine intention to help their people avoid burnout, what I’m actually seeing among our clients is this: laptops going on holiday. Phones staying switched on. Emails checked every single day, sometimes twice a day. Calls being taken from sun loungers on “urgent” projects that, in reality, could almost always wait. And I hear the same justification again and again: “I’m not going abroad, so it’s not really a proper holiday, is it?” As if a passport stamp is what makes rest legitimate, rather than the simple act of stepping away.

It isn’t the destination that earns you the right to switch off. It’s the decision.

This article is a case for that decision, from two angles. First, for you, the individual, standing at your desk wondering whether you can really afford to disconnect. And second, for you, the leader, wondering whether your team can really afford to either.

The Case For You

Let’s deal with the myth first, because it’s the one I hear most often: “If I switch off completely, I’ll fall behind. Someone else will get the visibility, the opportunity, the promotion.” It feels true. It is very rarely true.

The research on presenteeism, being visibly available and constantly “on” even when it adds nothing, is unambiguous. Presenteeism doesn’t build careers; it erodes output. Recent studies have found that productivity loss linked to presenteeism can be several times greater than the loss from simply being off sick, because a tired, half-present mind produces tired, half-present work. Being seen is not the same as being valuable.

What actually drives career progression is sustained performance, sound judgement and the kind of energy that comes from a properly rested brain, not the number of evenings you answered emails from a beach. If anything, the leaders who never switch off tend to plateau faster, because chronic low-grade exhaustion quietly erodes the clarity and creativity that got them noticed in the first place.

And the health case for stepping away properly is no longer a soft, nice-to-have argument. In the UK, nine in ten adults report high or extreme levels of pressure and stress over the past year, a figure that has barely moved in three years. Around a quarter of UK workers finish the year having left more than fifteen days of annual leave unused, and in smaller businesses, the kind our clients run, nearly two-thirds of employees admit to feeling guilty simply for booking time off. That guilt is costing your people, and your business, more than the time off ever would.

When you properly switch off, you don’t just avoid burnout. You come back sharper, more effective, and genuinely more able to enjoy the work you do. People who feel supported to rest report better mental health, higher engagement and a stronger connection to their role. That isn’t indulgence. That’s the foundation of sustainable performance.

Ask yourself:

→ What story am I telling myself about what will happen if I’m unreachable for a week, and is it actually true?

→ When did I last finish a break feeling genuinely rested, rather than just back at my desk?

→ If a colleague described my relationship with switching off, would I be comfortable hearing it back?

The Case For Your Team

As a leader, the instinct to keep your best people close, reachable, half-present even on leave, is understandable. But it’s short-sighted. If you have a talented person on your team, the very worst thing you can do is let them drift off on holiday without a proper conversation beforehand.

Here’s why that matters more than most leaders realise: the moments when people quietly decide whether to stay or go are very often the moments when they’re away from the day-to-day noise. Given the headspace to think clearly, on a beach, on a walk, over a long lunch, people reassess. If the last thing they heard from you was a rushed handover and no real conversation about their progress, their contribution or their future, don’t be surprised if the decision that forms in that headspace isn’t the one you wanted.

Don’t delay the conversation that matters until it’s too late to shape the outcome.

A proper one-to-one before someone goes away, one that genuinely covers how they’re doing and where they’re headed, isn’t a nice extra. It’s protection for the relationship. And modelling switch-off behaviour yourself, being visibly, genuinely offline, tells your team more about what you actually value than any well-being policy document ever will.

Ask yourself:

→ Have I had a real conversation with my key people about their progress recently, not just a project update?

→ Do I model switching off myself, or do I quietly expect availability while saying the opposite?

→ What would it cost my team if I treated their time off as genuinely off-limits, and what would it cost me if I didn’t?

The Four-Week Countdown

Permission to switch off isn’t just a mindset, it’s also a bit of preparation. Here’s a simple structure to work through in the run-up to your break, whether you’re the one going away or the one leading someone who is.

For the individual

Four weeks out: Map what genuinely needs your input before you go, and what can simply wait. Be honest with yourself about the difference.

Three weeks out: Start delegating and briefing, don’t leave it to the final days. Flag anything time-sensitive to your team now, while there’s still room to plan around it.

Two weeks out: Write your handover. Be specific about decisions, not just tasks, so people aren’t left guessing.

The week before: Close the loop on anything outstanding, confirm cover, and agree what “urgent” actually means while you’re away, and who it should go to instead of you.

For the leader

Four weeks out: Have the proper one-to-one. Talk about progress and future, not just projects.

Three weeks out: Agree what decisions can be made without them, and make sure the rest of the team knows it too.

Two weeks out: Check the handover together. Don’t just accept it, test it.

The week before: Confirm you genuinely won’t contact them unless it’s essential, and mean it.

If you’re reading this with three weeks to go rather than four, don’t panic and don’t abandon the exercise. It’s not all or nothing. Do what you can with the time you’ve got; even a proper handover conversation and one clear agreement about what “urgent” means will get you most of the way there.

The Takeaway

Switching off isn’t about how far you travel, and it was never really about geography. It’s about whether you give yourself, and your people, genuine permission to stop. The evidence is clear that presenteeism doesn’t protect careers, and constant availability doesn’t build resilient teams; it quietly wears both down. The leaders and individuals who thrive over time are the ones who treat rest as part of the strategy, not an interruption to it.

This summer, whatever your break looks like, give yourself, and your team, permission to actually take it.

If you’d like support building a leadership culture where switching off is genuinely normalised, not just written into policy, I’d love to talk. Get in touch with VB&A.