How Alex Windsor took four days off without his laptop

Nobody chasing him

Alex loves what he does, which made it harder to switch off. He thought about work all the time and worked on holiday.

At the top of a company, nobody chases you. There were things only he knew needed doing, so they didn’t get done.

“When you sit at the top of a company, there isn’t anyone chasing you.”

What the calls showed him

The weekly sessions made him look at how he actually worked. He procrastinated more than he thought. He checked email too often. When he got home, he wasn’t really there.

So he started handing over work he would never have let go of before.

Then, before a trip away in December, he told his wife he wasn’t taking his laptop. She looked at him like he was having her on. Four days. He didn’t work.

“Through these calls I realised something uncomfortable: I procrastinate a lot.”

What changed

• Four days away with no laptop, for the first time in years
• Delegating things he would never have let go of before
• Stepping back far enough to see the bigger picture

“But stepping back genuinely lets you see the bigger picture.”

His advice

“There’s only so far you can go on your own.”