HBR Guide to Managing Stress at Work (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 6

Making Time Off Predictable—and Required

by Leslie A. Perlow and Jessica L. Porter

IDEA IN BRIEF

• People in professional services believe a 24/7 work ethic is essential for getting ahead, and so they work 60-plus hours a week and are slaves to their BlackBerrys.
• The authors’ research in several offices of the Boston Consulting Group, however, suggests that consultants and other professionals can meet the highest standards of service and still have planned, uninterrupted time off—whether in good economic times or bad.
• Here’s how: Impose a strict mechanism for taking time off, encourage lots of talk about what’s working and what isn’t, promote experimentation with different ways of working, and ensure top-level support.