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How to Switch Off From Work: The Royal Navy ‘Secure’ Rule
- Sam Kinsey-Briggs
- Aug 4
- 5 min read
Lost in Translation #5: Secure
The pipe and word that ends the day. And why civilians have never heard it.
In the Royal Navy, Secure means the working day is over.
It is piped across the ship. “Do you hear there: Secure, leave, leave in accordance with daily orders”
A clear, audible signal. Everyone hears it. Everyone knows what it means.
The day is done. You can stop.
Civilians have no equivalent.
No pipe. No signal. No clear moment when the working day ends and the rest of life begins.
And it shows.
A Quick Note on the Word Itself
Before we go further, a small piece of joint forces humour that anyone who has worked across the services will appreciate.
Tell each service to secure a building and watch what happens.
The Army will surround it and establish a defensive perimeter. The Royal Marines will assault it. The RAF will take out a three-year lease on it. The Navy will turn off the lights and pipe Secure.
Every word means something different depending on where you stand.
Which is rather the point of this whole series.
Presenteeism and the Ladder
I was not always good at this.
As a young officer, like many in the military, the culture around visibility was real. Being seen. Being present. Staying later than you needed to because leaving on time felt like a statement about how much you cared.
Presenteeism over substance. Long hours as a proxy for commitment.
At some point I realised that the metric was wrong. That fulfilment was not the same as promotion. That being seen in the building was not the same as doing good work.
That shift in thinking is part of what led me here. To ACSIS Life Coaching Ltd. To coaching full time. To choosing a next chapter built around purpose rather than rank.
But the habit of not stopping is a stubborn one. It does not leave just because you understand it intellectually.
You have to practise switching off the way you practise anything else. Consistently, deliberately, until it becomes part of the routine.
What Secure Actually Looks Like Now
I have found what works for me, and it is specific enough to be worth sharing because the principle matters more than the detail.
No-tech days. Not reduced tech. Not phone on silent. Nothing. No screen, no notifications, no news. Just the day and what is in it.
Protected time for the things that restore rather than deplete. Reading. The garden. Walking the dogs. Pottering without a plan. Time with my wife and family.
And the May bank holiday weekend that reminded me why all of it matters.
A long hot weekend. My wife and I in the garden. Braai every evening, the smell of charcoal and whatever was cooking, cold beers in the sun, talking about everything and nothing in particular.
That was Secure.
Not as a reward for earning it. Just as a thing we had planned and protected and actually did.
And here is the thing I did not expect.
The no-tech days, the garden, the deliberately unscheduled time. That is when my best ideas arrive. When the notebook comes out not because I am trying to think but because something surfaces that would never have found its way through the noise.
Rest is not the opposite of creativity.
It is often where creativity lives.
For the Person Whose Brain Will Not Switch Off
If you are reading this and thinking that sounds lovely but my brain simply does not work that way, I hear you.
The voice that says you should be doing something. The low hum of unfinished tasks. The inability to sit in the garden without mentally composing tomorrow's to-do list.
That is not a personality type. That is a nervous system that has been trained to stay at readiness.
Here is what I would suggest trying first.
Box breathing. Four counts in. Hold for four. Four counts out. Hold for four. Repeat four times. It takes less than two minutes and it works directly on the nervous system, activating the parasympathetic response that tells your body it is safe to stop. The science behind it is solid. Polyvagal theory, developed by Dr Stephen Porges, explains exactly why controlled breathing regulates the stress response in a way that willpower alone cannot.
And the worry list. Write down everything that is circling. Every unfinished thought, every nagging concern, everything your brain is holding onto in case you forget it. Then tell yourself you will come back to it later.
When you return to the list, the emotion will have reduced. The items that felt urgent will look smaller. Some will have resolved themselves. The ones that remain can be dealt with from a calmer place.
This is not avoidance. It is regulation.
There is a significant difference.
And recently at night, to go with my Magnesium, I’m taking Ashwagandha - helping my brain to find calm and has improved my sleep tremendously.
Clarity, Courage, Connection
Finding what works for you as an individual is the work. Not somebody else's formula. Yours. That is what coaching is for.
Clarity
Know what your version of Secure looks like. Name it. Put it in the diary. It does not count if it lives only in your good intentions.
Courage
In a culture that rewards visible busyness, stopping deliberately takes nerve. The pipe sounds whether you are ready or not. Give yourself the same permission.
Connection
The best moments of rest I have had involved another person. A colleague on a flight deck. My wife in the garden. The conversation that was not about work at all. Rest is not always solitary. Sometimes it is the cold beer and the person beside you.
Looking for More Clarity, Courage and Connection?
If this blog struck a chord, ACSIS Life Coaching offers a calm, supportive space to help you reconnect with what keeps you steady, resilient and more like yourself.
Sam and Lloyd work with people who are carrying stress, pressure or emotional weight and want practical support to move forward with greater clarity, confidence and connection. Sometimes the shift starts with something big. Sometimes it starts with something smaller, a pause, a breath, a different perspective, a little more lightness.
👉 Book a FREE Clarity Session with ACSIS Life Coaching
👉 Visit acsis.co.uk or email contact@acsis.co.uk
How to Switch Off From Work: FAQs
What does “Secure” mean in the Royal Navy?
In the Royal Navy, “Secure” means the working day is over. It is piped across the ship as a clear signal that work has finished and people can stop, switch off, and move into rest.
Why is it so hard to switch off from work?
Many people never get a clear ending to the day. Without a defined stop point, work can spill into evenings, weekends, and personal time, leaving the nervous system stuck in a state of readiness.
How can I switch off from work more easily?
Start by creating your own version of “Secure.” This could be closing your laptop at a set time, putting your phone away, going for a walk, practising box breathing, or writing down tomorrow’s tasks so your mind can let go for the day.
What is box breathing and how does it help?
Box breathing is a simple breathing technique where you breathe in for four counts, hold for four, breathe out for four, and hold again for four. Repeating this helps calm the nervous system, reduce stress, and make it easier to move out of work mode.
Why is rest important for high performers?
Rest is not a reward for finishing everything. It is essential for recovery, clear thinking, creativity, and sustainable performance. Without rest, stress builds, focus drops, and burnout becomes more likely.
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