Taking a break – leaving your work without your adult supervision.

Oh yes, you do need to take a holiday. Everybody does it, from small-business owners and solo entrepreneurs to the COO of the worlds largest companies. Even if you run a one-person company or a home business, and feel you can't free yourself from it you should take some time out, especially if you want to stay in business for long.

By taking a break you will discover very soon that your valuable creative juices and problem-resolution skills get a boost. Successful people take regular holiday breaks and it will actually benefit your business and your mind and body if you take a holiday break.

I have always warned my clients that stress kills and in the past year, more people than I care to think about, have passed away earlier than they expected to. Their final wishes all focussed one thing; they all wished they had taken more time out to play.

A holiday will allow you to see new things, to give your mind a time to think about new things to notice special things and it allows your body and spirit to regenerate. The busier you are the less you get to stay in touch with all the new stuff going on around you.

Once you have booked your holiday a whole new raft of questions arise, don’t they??

The biggie QUESTION - should you check in with your office while you are on holiday?

“Not a good idea” says my friend Dave, “if possible do not call in at all - the whole idea is to completely remove yourself from the office", he says, “even if your business is your life, you need to take some time out 'to smell some other roses'. It is normally during a bit of real downtime that the really great ideas pop up right in front of you - ideas that you won’t get at work or in the office.”

Five of my clients I asked this very question, told me they don't call in at all. Three others admitted to what one could term “a single courtesy call” - mmmm, perhaps just to satisfy their curiosity? Personally I like to get right off the planet, to spend time with my wife and family. I deliberately leave my mobile phone and laptop at home. My business partner will know how to reach me, but he knows that he shouldn’t even try.

”Big deal Gary, not everybody is the same”, you may say. Of course you are right, maybe you are able to relax more by checking in daily, or every now and then. Ok so how do you balance thing out?
If you cannot relax without being "in-touch", here are some ideas:

  • Have one single contact person. Work through that one person and nobody else.
  • Refuse to accept work calls from anyone else.
  • Decide on a time of day to make the call. Ensure that it is at a time that is convenient for you, not who you are calling.
  • If after a few days you relax enough to feel that everything is under control, stop calling.
  • Avoid calling in during in the first 2 days and the last 2 days of your holiday. Begin your holiday at the beginning of a weekend and end it on the first working day of the week just to give you some time to get away and get used to something different.

Think of it this way - you are more valuable when you are in an optimum state!