Do you need a Vacation?

A couple of weeks ago, I was exhausted. My forced rebrand wasn’t going as smoothly as I had hoped, and I was just plain tired. I was between coaching calls, and I remember thinking I needed a vacation. I needed a break from life, business, and busyness! But my next vacation wouldn’t be for a month.

How could I deal with this? I did nothing. I tried my best to do nothing. In my office, right in front of me, is a wall with a corkboard on it with some encouraging stuff like my vision board, affirmations, and a few other items. To my left is a set of windows overlooking my yard. We have old-growth cedars in our yard that are between 60-90 feet tall. So for this desperately needed vacation, I sat for 180 seconds and stared out my windows.

It was marvelous!

Not all vacations need to be extended. They can be quick breaks in your work day. Closing your eyes for a few moments. Talking a short walk. They can also be weekends, week-long trips, or even longer. Regardless of length, it’s important to plan, engage other people to make it happen, automate things while you’re away, and pick a wise time to do it. From 180 seconds to 18 days off. Take some time to rest.

Isn’t that what so many people are striving for? A break from work? A few days off?

Getting away for vacation can be a struggle

In fact, one of the reasons many business owners start their own business is so that they can set their own schedule. But instead of taking a vacation, the opposite tends to happen for many of them. Long days and piles of paperwork make it hard to get away. And when they do get away, it’s hard for many people to completely get away, without checking email or answering messages. 

It’s sad, really. There are so many known benefits of taking a vacation, and yet few Americans actually take them, for a myriad of reasons.

My family is heading out of the country for a vacation. It’s not the ‘rest on the beach and read a book’ type of vacation; it’s actually a service project with a local church. But while I’m away, I won’t be able to check emails, schedule podcast interviews, or interact with my Facebook Community Group. 

For someone whose income is based on actually meeting with people, taking a break means not making any money this week. It means not pursuing any leads, not coaching anyone, and not networking. But I’m confident that it is still the right decision. I still need this vacation. 

Why is vacation important?

1. Rest and Recharge. Taking a step away from the work that you do allows you to recenter your priorities and your passion for your work. Our minds and bodies need a break. Vacation allows you to set your work aside and do something else. Oftentimes, this break will re-energize you and help you come back better than you were when you left, with new ideas and less stress.
2. It allows others to step up. Oftentimes, you might have employees working with you who will do a great job ‘running’ your business while you are away. This is empowering to them and also makes it possible for you to get away. If you’ve trained your employees well, and have the right systems in place, this shouldn’t be a problem at all. Trust your employees.
3. It contributes to a positive work environment. When you, as the business owner, take a vacation, it shows that you value time away from work and the benefits that come from that. Ideally, this translates into employees being able to take time off, employees feeling trusted enough to run your business while you’re gone, and, as a result, being better employees. 

How do you do it? 

How can you make it possible to actually take a vacation? 

1. Plan for it. This is definitely the first step. Once my family committed to this trip, I looked at my schedule and started preparing for the things that would need to be rescheduled. I made sure to block off my schedule so nothing new would get added. 
2. Find others to help. I want the members of my business community to continue to get things out of the community, even if I’m not there to facilitate. So I’ve specifically asked a few people to help generate conversation in the group. This is actually one of the main reasons I started this group- to get community members to interact with one another. This trip just so happens to be the catalyst to really get that to happen. For your business, this might mean delegating a ‘go-to’ person to take care of things that come up.
3. Automate social media. If you use social media at all in your business, it’s easy to preschedule things to post automatically while you are gone. 
4. Take your vacation during your slow season, if possible. Obviously, this doesn’t work for everyone, but if there is a time of year that you aren’t as busy, take time off then. It will make it less stressful for you. 
5. Tell people you are going away. Most people understand the need for taking a vacation and will try not to bother you if they know you are away and have arranged for things to be handled while you are away.

Do you have a vacation planned? Are there other things you do to make sure you’re time away goes smoothly?

I’m excited about my trip and I can’t wait to share more about it with you all. When I come back, I look forward to getting a new Mastermind group started. If you’re interested, simply schedule a call with me to talk about the details.