I’ve never understood why so many of us feel the need to keep going, nonstop, month after month without a break. Athletes know that downtime for recuperation is vital after a big event to prevent burnout, Hollywood’s known for its December “quiet time”, and in the business world even mighty Bill Gates took a week or two off every year when running Microsoft to read books and recharge his batteries (yes, he’s an android). Yet most people and companies somehow continue to look at downtime as some sort of evil thing to be avoided at all costs.

That’s not us, and I hope it’s not you. I believe that a creative agency that discourages downtime for its employees is an agency headed towards extinction. It’s simple, really: have you ever worked on a problem, hours on end, and been frustrated only to get an unexpected “aha!” solution to your problem when you least expect it? I get my best ideas in the shower, but I digress.  Call it the subconscious mind at work, call it divine intervention, whatever. The point is, often our best work and creative solutions come to us when our minds are allowed to rest and play.

We need to have downtime in our work year to stay at our best. Downtime makes us smarter, more creative, less prone to illness, and generally a heckuva lot more fun to be around. We realize that here, and that’s why we shut down for the last week of each year. And it’s why we love it when our people go on vacation. Taking the time to relax and disengage from the daily routine and mundane hassles makes you a better, more creative problem solver. In our business, that’s more valuable than gold. Even in this market. I hope that you make the time to put some downtime into your routine this coming year, too.