Research shows that leaders perform better when they take time to rest properly and don’t ruminate over work related matters after hours. This may seem obvious, but rest is so often neglected or undervalued and seen as a luxury rather than a necessity. The reality is that it is actually a benefit for the organisations that leaders serve if those leaders get quality rest and recuperation.
The Importance of Leader Recovery
The Harvard Business Review article Want to Be a Better Leader? Stop Thinking About Work After Hours, is based on research by the authors, Remy E. Jennings, Allison S. Gabriel, and Klodiana Lanaj titled “The importance of leader recovery for leader identity and behaviour” published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, in 2023. A 10-day diary study involving 73 leaders and a “matched follower” (employee they line managed, showed that when leaders “detached” from their work in the evenings, they felt more recharged the next day, which helped them to “identify” more strongly with their leader role. Conversely, on days when leaders ruminated about work in the evening, they felt more drained the next morning, hindering their ability to identify as a leader.
The idea of “identifying” emphasizes leadership as a way of “being” rather than “doing”, leadership is so much more than having a list of tasks to complete, it is about inspiring and engaging others. Characteristics of great leaders, such as authenticity, curiosity, analytical skills, adaptability, creativity, comfort with ambiguity, resilience and empathy require a leader to be feeling energised. These characteristics are less likely to show up if a leader is feeling exhausted. I believe that the same is true for teachers as the leaders in their classrooms.
The research also found that the “followers” considered the leaders to be more effective too after rest, rating them as more “powerful” and “transformational” than those who had ruminated the night before. Interestingly, the research showed that rest (or lack of it) affected newer leaders more than those who had been in leadership roles for longer. When we are new in roles, everything takes a little more effort until we have built those pathways and strong habits to support us.
This research highlights a clear link between rest and recuperation and the ability to lead. There is, however, another equally serious consideration, as the absence of rest also increases the likelihood of a leader suffering from “burnout.”
Beyond Being your Best – the Increased Risk of Burnout
‘Burnout’ is recognised by the World Health, defined as a “state of physical and emotional exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress”. Though it’s most often caused by problems at work, burnout can also be linked toother areas of life, such as parenting, caretaking, or relationships.
Common signs of burnout include:
- Feeling tired or drained most of the time.
- Feeling helpless, trapped and/or defeated.
- Feeling detached/alone in the world.
- Having a cynical/negative outlook.
- Self-doubt.
- Procrastinating and taking longer to get things done.
- Feeling overwhelmed.
Burnout is not simply a result of working long hours, juggling too many tasks, and not taking time to rest, though those both play a role. Other causes can include not feeling in control of how a job is carried out, being required to complete tasks that conflicts with your values, working towards a goal that doesn’t resonate, or when lacking support.
If responsibilities don’t match a leader’s true purpose or if they have lost sight of this, and if they don’t take a break occasionally, they increase their risk of facing burnout, as well as the risk of developing many of the other mental and physical health problems that often come along with it, including headaches, fatigue, heartburn, and other gastrointestinal symptoms, as well as increased potential for alcohol, drug, or food misuse.
One of the common signs or stages of burnout is a tendency to over work. This can be linked to self-doubt and a perceived need to work more to be successful. Presenteeism and excessive working become greater in many people beginning to suffer from burnout.
Given the importance of rest, it seems paradoxical for it to be so common for teachers and leaders not to prioritise this important rest, to continue to work and/or think about work well after the official work day has ended. So what stops teachers and leaders from taking that much needed rest and recuperation?
Rest: What’s Getting in the Way?
The authors of the article state’ “The high demands of a leadership role lead some to perceive that the only way to perform well is to work around the clock. As a result, many may find themselves ruminating about an issue with an employee, trying to think of a solution to a client problem, or creating a mental to-do list long after they have left the office for the day or turned off their computer.”
Culture and Perception
Interesting that the article suggests part of this could be linked to a perception. As a coach, this makes me curious to find out more. How much of this is a belief or assumption that to perform well we need to work long hours and how much is the sheer quantity of work? Beliefs like this may seem like reality. These beliefs can go back to childhood, many of us will recall being praised for working hard as children and will also have been told that hard work was the route to success. We probably find ourselves sharing this praise and advice too and it is, of course true to an extent, but an over emphasis on this can cause us to believe that we need to work harder or longer than is necessary to be a success at whatever we do. Leaders may also feel that the higher pay they receive means they should work longer and harder than those they lead rather than the higher pay being a reflection of their responsibility, experience, and skills. It may be the norm in an organisation to work long and late. Positive comments made to and about those sending or responding to early and late emails (or whose cars are seen to arrive early and leave the car park late) compared to any judgement of those who do not may link to organisational culture. Some may feel positive about themselves for working these long hours.
Julie Mason on the website weareteachers.com back in January 2021 wrote about a “culture of over working. In her article she argues, “Overworking doesn’t make you a better teacher. There’s a toxic culture in education that associates overworking with being a good teacher. Your overtime is not a badge of honour but a systemic problem that leads to burnout.” She goes on to say “No one is saying we shouldn’t work hard. There’s no question that teaching requires hard work; it’s rare that we end the day with every item crossed off our to-do list. But we need to accept that there is always going to be more that we can do. This is why so many of us sacrifice our physical and mental health and work well beyond our contract hours. We are sprinting towards a finish line that keeps getting further away.”
One thing that is also evident, however, according to many who contacted me is that we can’t ignore workload.
Workload
A former colleague commented in response to my initial post about Rest and Recuperation for leaders, “Big shifts in workload are needed especially for Middle Leaders in schools, you can’t switch off if you’re having to use evenings and weekends simply to keep up to date. I know some Heads of Department who work 70 hours per week to get the job done.”
Many school leaders talk about this at a senior level too. Moustapha, who leads an international school says, “I can relate to the challenge of disengaging from work after hours, particularly in my role which involves extensive planning and preparation. In the context of running a school, there are immense day-to-day responsibilities that often extend beyond regular working hours. This includes planning, organizing workshops, and developing new initiatives, which are critical but time-consuming tasks. The ability to stop thinking about or doing work after hours is significantly impacted by the sheer volume of these tasks. The nature of my job requires constant attention and foresight, which often spills over into personal time. This overlap is a constant struggle, and finding a balance remains a challenge”.
There is a lot of research and conversation on social media about the level of teacher and school leader workload and its impact on many practitioners. Some schools and trusts have managed to cut this down considerably, but many are still citing this as an issue. Beyond education too, there have been a lot of studies about organisational practice and workload for leaders and managers.
The 2023 DfE research report “Working lives of teachers and leaders” found that full time leaders reported working on average 57.5 hours per week and teachers 51.9 hours per week. Both are above the “standard” 37.5 hours considered full time in many occupations. Over four in ten leaders (43%) reported working at least 60 hours in the reference week and two in ten teachers (19%)
More positively, some teachers I spoke to who shared that they could complete their work in their PPA time and some Headteachers too who reported having been able to leave work at school and ensure they had full evenings to rest – at least three times per week. We can see that many leaders do have a significant workload. There can also, in both teaching and leadership be a grey area over working hours and the expectations of when emails should be responded to and what hours should be spent working.
Clarity over Hours
Darren, a teacher, and presenter on Teachers Talk Radio, wrote “I think the issue with this is the lack of definition of ‘working hours’. We can’t switch off when the kids go home because then lessons don’t get planned. So the onus then falls on us as individuals to decide when our cut-off points are. That’s not always easy.”
How do we decide our cut of points? Looking back to the points on culture, perception, and workload, this may not be straightforward. I think, however, it does show the importance of an awareness of these things. Awareness, for example of the need for a cut off could be helpful.
What also became clear from the comments and my own experience of leadership, is even with awareness, with a decision made to stop work and a choice not to work, no priority deadlines that need to be addressed, it can still be difficult to switch off.
The elusive ability to switch off.
Even when leaders and teachers have stopped working, their brains may not get the memo to stop. The article referred to at the beginning is about leaders ruminating, thinking about work rather than working. So it is much more than just continuing “doing work”, the problem is about still thinking about work.
This is something I can relate to as a former headteacher. Rob, agrees, saying that this inability to “switch off” was something he had also experienced as a head teacher. It isn’t just heads and school leaders who report challenges in switching off, a second year teacher, working in a UK Primary messaged me to say that even though he can leave work at a reasonable time most days, completing most tasks in his PPA, he also struggled to switch off after the school day.
A combination of factors
It seems that it is likely to be a combination of factors leading to the difficulty in switching off and resting fully outside of work. Some factors are general, some are specific to each context. In an international school setting, school leader Frances, agreed it was difficult to switch of and rest, explaining “although it is stressful having to continue to do further work in the evenings after school is over, I feel more stressed if I switch off and do nothing.” When asked how easily she could stop thinking about or doing work after hours, she responded “Not very easily. It is always at the back of your mind, nagging you and creating this sensation that you need to stay on top of things otherwise you are not good enough to be in the job.” She described how this was made more difficult by having emails on her phone, explaining “if you are aware that they are coming through and you need to check them to see if they need immediate attention.”
Another senior leader who didn’t want to be named told me that they find it extremely difficult to stop thinking about work and shared their saying “I go to work to attend meetings, and I come home to work”. It is quite common for them to be working till 22:30 5 or 6 days a week. When they responded to me it was 7pm on Friday night, and they were working their way through the day’s emails. They commented specifically about parental expectations in their own setting, saying that in their school, parents expect a reply to an email within a few hours regardless of the day or time that it is sent. They went on to say the digital age also does not help, as work never remains at work now due to devices. This is hugely concerning, complex and potentially not sustainable, clearly some change is really needed here.
Frances also spoke about workload, saying “Sometimes you have to pick up and continue working throughout the evenings as there is never enough time during the day to get things done.” Frances also cited “Guilt and fear of falling behind and letting other colleagues down” as barriers to recuperation. Whilst this is about workload, it also shows a deeper level of concern for competing tasks and a real sense of responsibility to colleagues.
Enabling Leaders’ Rest
So what can we do as teachers and leaders to try to take this time away from work so we can be our best leader and teacher selves? The writers in the Havard Business Review offer a few practical recommendations for leaders:
First, they advise that leaders find ways to detach after work. Citing research that shows that leaders have a tendency to overwork and feel the need to always be available, they emphasize the legitimacy of disconnecting from work and taking time to recover rather than continuing to think about work until late into the evening. They recommend that leaders consider mastering a new hobby, read, exercise, spend time with friends, generally trying to find activities that they enjoy in the evening to turn their thoughts away from work.
Secondly, they advise leaders to establish boundaries between work and home. As leaders tend to influence the communication norms for their teams, clarifying their own hours of availability to employees may be helpful in ensuring adequate time each day to recover after work. In addition, creating guidelines for yourself about when work-related interruptions are allowed during non-work hours (e.g., what situations constitute leadership emergencies) may be a helpful practice both for leaders, and their teams.
Lastly, they suggest that leaders should consider carefully how they spend their non-work time and advise leaders to use recovery time to combat depletion and enhance your identity as a leader. They explain that it uses energy to connect with leadership roles. Leadership is hard, and those feeling refreshed in the morning may be more emboldened to take on leadership responsibilities compared to those leaders who start their workday feeling drained.
Recovery time can be used well if you focus on the seven types of rest advocated by Dr Saundra Dalton Smith (and the subject of a previous blog). Rest is more then just siting still or being quiet (although this may help some). It is about finding the activities that really help.
Self-coaching or working with a coach to look at this could also help. Checking for any perceptions or beliefs about over working. There is also a case here for some organisational and cultural change in some circumstances too.
Ideas from current leaders
Moustapha, one of the International School leaders says, “What helps in achieving a semblance of balance is setting clear boundaries and practicing mindful scheduling, though admittedly, this is easier said than done.” Frances advises “Planning things to do in advance sometimes helps as it forces you to switch off.”
A teacher who described how he struggles to switch off says that he sets a prompt leaving time from work each day. Knowing how difficult it can be to switch off, this, along with going to the gym helps me to destress/ relax after a busy day. He describes how he also tries and organise one thing each week like going out for dinner to have a life after working hours.
And another teacher says she used to struggle to switch off but describes how now she has stopped taking her laptop home most nights, it has improved her mental health. Whilst workload can still be an issue, if she has something to be completed, she stays at work, creating a clear divide between home and work. She also says that having a partner that also works in education, and they have adopted a policy of no shop talk at home which benefits them both and allows them to be present in what we are doing. She also says walking the dog and getting out and about also helps.
Jack, a school leader in Mexico describes how since starting a whole-school leadership position, he has been going for walks in the evening and ensuring that has have time with his family, either reading together, playing football or at the very least chatting over a meal each evening. He describes making a conscious decision to “switch off” after 8:00 pm which he says has been very helpful in marking the difference between work and leisure time.
Elle, another international school leader describes the benefits of turning off notifications. She says she can be reached in emergencies, but all other work-based forms of communication are turned off when she is done with work for the day. That might not be at 5:30pm but whenever she chooses to choose is her ‘stop’ time. If she still has notifications, she says she must look and would then be thinking about it even if she can’t do anything until back at work the next day. Elle also says “When I do need to work at the weekend, I make sure I agree with myself the ‘stop’ point in advance. Maybe an amount of time or a task. I then plan to do something immediately after, even better if it’s something I must book so I make myself stop and go. This has helped me not overwork at the weekend – and means I get my nails done regularly! Elle also says exercise helps and describes how heading straight to the gym at the end of the day helps to process and decompress.
Reluctance to Speak about Rest
It has been good to speak to some leaders and teachers about their experiences with rest switching off from work. What I was surprised about, however, was the vast number of leaders and teachers who were so reluctant to speak, or who didn’t want to be referenced or quoted. Some of the reasons they gave, for not wanting to speak about taking rest/recuperation were fear of judgement or a fear of getting more work. Some said that people wouldn’t think they were doing a good job if they had time to rest. Clear research says that taking time to rest makes leaders better – and I believe that would apply to teachers too. Why then can’t we celebrate this? People were equally reluctant to speak about having too much work. Some said this was for fear of reprisals at work or being labelled a trouble maker.
Conclusion
The evidence is here – rest is an important part of a leader’s life, not just for themselves and their families, but also as a key component in becoming a better leader, for the benefit of their organisations, teams and anyone they serve.
For some sectors, there are almost certainly some structural, significant changes needed to make this more effective and consistent for leaders. Ther are also some cultural changes, which I think we are seeing the star of about not seeing over work as a badge of honour.
Let’s not normalise over work. Let’s continue too to encourage all leaders to look to this research. All tasks come with an opportunity cost – if they are less valuable than the need to rest and create better leaders and teachers, they need to be taken from the routines and “what we do”.
At an individual level we can all take our part. We can take steps to look after ourselves, be intentional about rest and recuperation, setting time for this as part of our schedules, knowing it makes us better leaders, as well as enabling us to be healthier humans.
How are you going to make sure you get the rest you need and disconnect from your work after hours?
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