Did you know that about 46% of workers don’t take all their vacation time? Americans tend to take fewer vacation days than people from other countries. For those of us who own our own business it seems that taking time off, away from our work can feel impossible. Even those who are employed will often say “I’d hate the workload and mess I’d come back to” and worry about falling behind, losing their job or thinking they’re replaceable.
“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from cares which will not withdraw from us.”
Maya Angelou Poet and civil rights activist
Vacations can recharge and rejuvenate us both physically and mentally. I know when I go away, I become more creative, sleep well and have time to pay attention to my wellbeing. I like to take time out away from the normal work environment and work remotely from somewhere else. I like to do this 2 or 3 times a year and reflect on progress, opportunities and challenges. Last month I visited Spain and planned my week to include work, workouts, fun and sightseeing. I even got to practice my Spanish. Because I am away from my normal environment, the distractions of day-to-day living aren’t in my sight and I can plan my week very specifically. Now I can’t do this currently every single week of the year, nor do I want to, but I’m going to challenge those who say they can’t possibly take time off or away to understand that it’s possible. Whether you are looking for a vacation, or to work remotely or combine both, it comes down to planning and discipline.
What prevents us from taking time off?
Many people often end up losing their well-earned vacation days. Yet if we had to do something and our life depended on it, we know we would get it done and would take the time necessary to make it happen.
The trouble is when we are constantly working with no breaks or time off, we can become very unproductive. There are many statistics that show just how unproductive we can be. Continuous work can lead to decision fatigue where we can struggle to make good judgements and decisions. This often leads to stress, headaches and high blood pressure. When we are in our normal work environment we get desensitized to what is around us and we fall into specific habit traps. We can also become distracted and disrupted far more easily, which can lead to increased errors. Patience becomes shorter, we can feel tired and often more likely to burn out. Enthusiasm frequenlty wanes along with ambition, energy and concentration. This can contribute to our health suffering and can end up with physical and mental health issues.
Take us away from our normal environment and we act differently. If you haven’t read The Power of Habit yet, add it to your to do list.
“In this game everyone needs a break to refuel, recharge and jump back in full throttle.”
Helen Edwards author
There are several reasons for being unproductive, the main one is self-management closely followed by technology and education. For example, often there are tools and resources to speed things up, but because we don’t know about them or don’t know how to use that technology to its full potential, we don’t take full advantage of the resources available.
So how about taking a day off or even any afternoon or morning and not taking a revenue hit? Yes, it is possible and doable, it just takes planning. If you truly want to make this happen here are 9 tips to bringing some time off into reality.
9 Tips to Taking Time Off
- So as not to take a revenue hit, work out how much revenue you need to earn each week regarding number of clients, products or hours of services to reach your goal. Remember to include expenses for travel if you’re not staying locally. Make sure there is enough capacity to achieve what you want to achieve. Do you have a productivity gap? (If you’re not sure how to do this, contact us).
- Being a control freak. Look to see what tasks can be delegated to someone or something else. Find someone who is better than you to delegate to. Often it’s the paperwork and technology that bogs us down and sucks our time.
- Initially start by taking an afternoon off and planning something fun to do that is exciting or meaningful. This will release those critical endorphins to help get motivated again.
- Take yourself off site, somewhere quite for a few hours to concentrate on some detailed, critical or business development work. Give yourself permission to work away from everything and everyone else.
- Time block all the activities that need to be done that week and be disciplined to stick to it. Prioritize and focus on the time that tasks take and reschedule where necessary those items that take longer than expected. Include and breakdown tasks, everything that needs to be completed or started.
- Learn how to manage projects better and become aware of distractions, bright shiny objects and self-imposed expectations. Set up a simple flow chart of project scope of work.
- What are possible red flags, things that could derail plans? Have some back up plan B’s people to contact for ‘what ifs’.
- If you really want to break away, remember to change your voice message and email auto response accordingly.
- Start small and build up to a regular time away. You will come back much more focused and energized.
Whatever the choice of time taken off, know in the long run this is much better for us. We are far more productive when energized by a change of scenery, rest and relaxation. Give yourself permission to take some time out.