Everybody should take a sabbatical from work at some stage in their lives to clear their heads, says Angus MacRobert, the former CEO of Internet Solutions (IS).

MacRobert has just spent six months being unemployed under a restraint of trade clause invoked when he resigned last October. April 1 was his back-in-business date, and although he was delighted to be productive again, the downtime was vital for restoring balance, giving him masses of time with his wife and three children, and letting him formulate plans for the next stage in his career.