By: Reed C. Fraasa, CFP®, AIF®, RLP®
In 2019, HIGHLAND instituted the sabbatical benefit for each employee to take a month off and detach from work every seven years. I was due to take the first sabbatical in 2020, but due to COVID19, I postponed it to 2021. From February 20th to March 20th, I took a one-month sabbatical from work. My wife and I rented a place on the beach on the west coast of Florida.
For ten years, I aspired to write a book on financial planning, and I planned to write as much of the book as I could on my sabbatical. As we started the leave, my wife and I also decided to detach from cable news, and internet news feeds. Essentially, we unplugged from most information feeds and my work for the month. Admittedly, I was a news junky, starting each day flipping between five or six news channels to get the different perspectives on current events and reading the Wall Street Journal and several Twitter feeds. I always wanted to be aware of the information that any one of our clients may be receiving, and I believed I had an objective view of things and wasn't influenced by it.
I started each day with a light exercise and wrote about four hours a day. My wife and I went for walks, rode bikes, played tennis, read books, and hung out with my wife's friends who lived in the area. We would only watch a small selection of entertainment on television.
For the first few days, I had the urge to follow my prior habits, but I resisted and followed the new routine. After a week, I started to feel different. I had not been aware of how my consumption of streaming news and information affected me, but I felt relieved. My unconscious mind had been affected by all the information I was processing throughout the day. Not only was there a peacefulness, but more clarity of thought. In the past, without knowing from where it came, I always felt a constant sense of urgency.
Our brains are like our broadband networks. Several months ago, I had a conversation with my broadband network technician because of my Wi-Fi network's poor performance. Even though I had bought over 200 Mbps internet speed, my home Wi-Fi network was slow. I ran speedtest.net, and I was only getting about 25% of that speed. He explained that even though that speed was getting to my cable modem, my Wi-Fi router's connections were essentially getting clogged up with data packets that got stuck. It sounded like the broadband was suffering from a clogged artery. He instructed me to reboot the modem and Wi-Fi router every few weeks to keep it cleared up. Since I've done that, the internet speed is always good.
Our society suffers from information overload. Periodically tuning out of everything is like rebooting your router. Most of us are not aware of how our outlook and decision-making can be affected by the type and amount of information we choose to receive. I can tell you that I missed nothing in the news that month that made a difference in my life. I encourage all of you to tune out of all the information and news sources for a period of time and see how you feel afterward. After tuning out, you need to be mindful of what type and how much information you will reintroduce to your mental diet.
I reread a book I had shared with some of you that helped me prepare for when I returned after the sabbatical. The book is Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown – Amazon paperback for $14. McKeown's book is not explicitly about managing information in your life, but the same principles apply for this purpose.
Aside from my personal experience of tuning out for the month, I made some excellent progress on my book. I plan to finish it in the next two months.
One unexpected benefit from my sabbatical was the way the HIGHLAND team members all performed in my absence. Face it; all entrepreneurs have a little control issue going on. Although we implemented a new management style four years ago based on decentralized management, I couldn't help myself and often got into the management weeds instead of relinquishing complete control. I am so impressed with how empowered everyone became in my absence. I want to thank everyone at HIGHLAND, but especially Edward Leach, my partner, who did a fantastic job.
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done,
his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
— Lao Tzu
Author’s Bio
Reed C. Fraasa is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and founder of HIGHLAND Financial Advisors, a Fee-Only financial planning firm that offers comprehensive financial planning, retirement planning, and investment management. Reed has 30 years of experience as a fiduciary advisor and is the author of The Person is the Plan®, a unique financial planning process. Reed was a frequent guest contributor on PBS Nightly Business Report and has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Star Ledger newspapers.