By any measure, the last six months has been an extraordinary period for markets around the world.Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, requiring advisors to rethink and revisit every aspect of the way they operate.

Among the items that some advisors need to review is their stance on taking holidays.Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic escalation in the amount of time some successful advisors have taken off, well beyond what would normally be seen as necessary to recharge batteries. In some offices and some firms, a competition has developed to see who can take the most holidays - twelve weeks, fifteen weeks, even twenty weeks of vacation has not been unusual.

Providing you've got a good team to back you up and it's been effectively communicated to clients, this can be fine in good times.

And it may be appropriate if you're phasing out of the business, transitioning clients to new advisors.

But if you plan to be around the business for an extended period of time, this is not the year to make taking off more than four weeks or so a priority.

There are a number of reasons for this - among them the signal it sends to clients, the message it sends to your team and the need to truly focus on the business through a difficult period.

There's another reason also - there are dramatic growth opportunities for advisors who have the discipline and desire to explore them .... but you can't pursue these from the beach.

Just putting time in isn't enough, of course - what really counts is not how much time you spend in the office but how productive you are when you're there.

Which takes me to a second point on holidays.

At the extreme from advisors planning to take twelve or more weeks off this year are those planning to take no time off at all - taking too little time off is just as big a mistake as too much, maybe even bigger.

The reason is very simple - to operate at our peak, we all need to take occasional breaks from the stresses of work - and that's especially the case this year.

Even a four or five day long weekend can make a big difference - both in helping us stay productive and in giving us something to look forward to. I encourage advisors to block off at least one four day long weekend a quarter - and then to make at least one of those breaks at least a week, ideally longer.

The key when you're taking a break is to truly make it a break. If you can't shut your blackberry off or stay away from your laptop entirely, ration the time you spend to perhaps half an hour in the morning and another 30 minutes in the afternoon. Not only will this be good for you, it will send the right signal to your family. (A recent article in the New York Times talked about the resentment of children when their parents constantly answer cell phones and check blackberries at the dinner table.)

Leave all of the heavy duty work related reading at home. Make the break one in which you truly focus on reinvigorating yourself and reconnecting with your family.

At some point, we will return to normal markets and successful advisors who choose to can revert to extended holiday schedules. In light of the challenges of 2009 however, for advisors truly serious about and committed to their business, this year we need to rethink every aspect of our business - including holiday plans.