The multiply attributed quote, “Graveyards are filled with the bodies of indispensable men” was brought home to me in a whole new way this past week.

Never fear, nothing catastrophic occurred.

Rather, I found myself in not one, but two, situations where I had fooled myself into thinking that my presence was necessary to others’ productivity/peace of mind.

And I had damned the consequences to my own productivity and peace of mind.

As you can imagine, this was gearing up to end badly.

Thankfully, I still had the wit to check in those far cleverer than I who pointed out that I was acting a little nuts-o.

(I believe that was the technical term they used.)

So I wrote some uncomfortable emails, and picked up the phone for a few awkward conversations and guess what—everybody was OK with my stepping away.

Can you guess who was the most OK? Me.

Lordy, I feel better.

With this in mind, then, should those around you start using technical terms like “nuts-o” to describe how you’re showing up, I highly recommend reminding yourself that graveyards are filled with the bodies of indispensable men.

For more on the importance of stepping away to collect yourself, check out “The Value of a Rain Man Morning”