Attention please! There will now be a short break for a recharge – as I’m Unplugged, out of office and ‘outta’ here!

This is the man writing who uses the strapline “Take and give care” and regularly asks the question ‘Who’s looking after the people looking after the people?’ with clients. This is the man who also struggles sometimes to practice what he preaches. But not this week.

It was around this time 12 months ago that I realised that I wasn’t right. I was tired, restless and couldn’t relax. I knew something had to change but I didn’t know what to do or how to do it. I wasn’t ill but I was definitely not 100%. I needed help and that help came from Richard Husseiny of MenBehindSport Guiding the Men Behind Sport . As a result of my work with Richard I was able to recognise the need for some (better) self-care and I “awarded” myself the ability to go from five days a week to four in ‘recognition’ (humour me) for long service to the sports sector.

So, with effect from my birthday last October, which happened to land on a Friday, Thursday became the new Friday. How did I do? Well I needed the ‘hard stop’ on a Thursday to create the extra ‘me time’ and it worked (note the past tense so there’s a ’but’ coming.) I did anything but DOCIAsport work on a Friday for five months, and I stopped feeling absolutely knackered at the end of the week. I’d been ‘drinking’ too much from the well and not refuelling.

In November, in the midst of some personal turmoil, I visited my first Unplugged digital detox cabin Unplugged | Digital Detox Cabins in Nature Perhaps appropriately named Gruff, it is in a field near Thakeham in West Sussex. I, of course, was accompanied by the Senior Independent Director of my personal board, Fred the NED.

Whilst I was there undisturbed I did a lot of thinking and journalling about me – who am I – and my future. The time to reflect and write was precious and I rejoined the roundabout feeling a lot better mentally and robust enough to deal with the challenges of work and in my own life.

2024 has had a completely different feel to it. In the first quarter I stuck to the ‘Thursday is the new Friday’ mantra pretty well to the extent that I now don’t feel that I need for the rigid tramlines to be able to give myself ‘time off’ or ‘me time’ and away from the laptop or meetings. It no longer has to be within the confines of a calendar day.  All good but I have been ‘moving’ mentally and emotionally at a bit of a pace to be honest and I’m also in a transition phase. I need a break as:

I’m moving house. All that is going ok, but I do feel the need to have this new anchor point in my life asap to be more settled. I’m really looking forward to being there, a new home for the ‘new’ me (and Fred the NED). It is a new me – same gnarled visage and parts of my body that have ceased to be fully operational – but inside, there’s a peace that in itself is an anchor for my wellbeing. This sense of peace is new and settling in nicely.

The move will be in October but the lead up will involve considerable sorting and throwing out and it will no doubt be emotional as there are many things that represent life in Chateau Braid over the last 30 odd years here. I need to be prepared and I know a digital detox will help.

I’m in training. Most people catch the Eurostar from London to Paris, others use the car and a ferry. I’m cycling! Over the course of three days. So I’m putting the aforementioned body through what could loosely be called its paces by training regularly and pretty hard. The cycle won’t fit in the digital detox retreat. Out of sight will be out of mind. Active recovery walking in the New Forest will recharge the batteries for the last block of training and the ride itself. (PS The ride is for charity – a fundraising page will be online soon enough.)

I’m preparing for the next phase of my life

Yes I’m still working, but I like to think it’s more quality and less quantity these days. Its certainly doing work that I want to do and that I think will make a difference across the sport and physical activity sector.

• At the ‘high performance’ end I’m working with Isle of Man Sport Aid to create the World #1 Talent Pathway by 2029 and with Switch the Play on ‘athlete transition’.
• At the ‘community’ end I’m working voluntarily with the Matt Rattana Foundation using the power and values of rugby to help children and young people with ACEs (adverse childhood experiences.)
• And across the piece I’m working with CIMSPA on both the professionalisation of the workforce and its future mental health and wellbeing.

And I think when these projects are done then maybe so am I and I need to think about what that might look like when I am at the detox cabin … and ‘discuss this’ with Fred, obviously.

What will I do?

The beauty of a digital detox is that there is no pressure to do anything. You can do what you want, when you want. But I plan to sleep, read, meditate, walk with Fred, and maybe do nothing.

But, I have discussed the opportunity that this digital detox brings with Richard (Husseiny), and we spoke about a piece of work I did with him last year that he had researched from South America. It’s a reflective exercise that uses the perspective of 4 indigenous creatures. So I’ll be

• A snake. What skins have I shed in the last year? What skin would I like to shed now or keep?
• A jaguar. Where am I focussing my energy that I don’t want to? Where can I focus it more intentionally?
• A hummingbird. What is great in my life just now?
• A condor. Go high in the sky and look down on where have I come from in the last year? Where am I now and where am I headed?

So, the bags are packed and Fred and I are ready. We are off to the New Forest. A report of what I found whilst I was there will follow. That is what I found to do (or not) and what I found out about me as I give myself permission to have some self-care. Unplugged, out of office and outta here!

Take and give care. Ian