Remembering to have a life

Hand in hand with scheduling yourself time during the day, don’t forget that you need to have a life outside of work. Taking time away from your business is important to recharge your batteries, your creativity, and your sense of self.

If you’re trying to save money, every financial advisor will tell you the same thing.Pay yourself first. If you don’t take care of you, no one else will. Starting and running a business takes long hours and a lot of work, but burnout is a real danger, especially for entrepreneurs. Time off becomes an alien concept, as we too often become used to 80-hour work weeks, always wonderingis there something I’m missing back at my work? Keep that up for too long, and your dream job of working for yourself from home becomes just as tedious and boring as working 9 to 5 for someone else in an office somewhere. What you need to do is plan some time off for yourself and just like your daily schedule, stick to it.

Here are 5 hints you might try:

  • Plan it out. Create a list of the projects you’re working on so you can schedule your vacation time when you don’t have any important deadlines. Give advanced planning time so you’ve got time to deal with any surprise conflicts.
  • Brief your clients. I used to have the problem of setting a vacation to start on a Friday and then get POUNDED with work on Thursday afternoon. By the time I got it finished up, it was Saturday night. Make sure your clients know that any work received after a certain day and time will not be addressed until you get back from your trip. Don’t be afraid to sayNo unless it’s an absolute emergency.
  • Schedule your time off during down-time. Every business has some form of down-time during the year. Try to schedule your vacation during one of those times so you don’t feel that you have to be working.
  • Take mini-vacations. Instead of taking a 2-week holiday, try taking long weekend trips 4- or 5-day weekends just to break up the monotony of work.
  • Take time off to learn new skills. If you’re the type of person who can’t just kick back and relax, take time off from your business to take a class on something you’ve always wanted to learn. A new hobby or skill or language will be the excuse you use to get away from the computer for awhile to give your batteries a chance to recharge.

    • Vacation anxiety is a common fear among all business owners, especially entrepreneurs. You’ve got to remember though, working 20-hour days adds up to a crappy product. You’ve learned how to schedule your days, but don’t forget to schedule your life as well. Give yourself permission to live. After all, that’s probably one of the reasons you started your own business in the first place.