Over the last five years, I have begun taking more vacations – longer ones and shorter ones. At first, I made sure my laptop was never far from me because business had to happen. A month ago, I went to Disneyland on a Tuesday for a day trip with my daughter and didn’t bring a laptop at all.
You know what I’ve discovered because of that? It’s actually good for business!
As counterintuitive as it may seem, taking some time to not concentrate on and worry about business can make the time that we spend on work that much more productive.
When we’re healthy, well rested and relaxed, work is not as much of a chore and we’re able to concentrate better on the task at hand.
When we’ve taken ourselves out of the work environment and spent some time truly enjoying our home, the community, or even a vacation, it allows our creativity to recharge.
We see old problems in a new light and new solutions appear.
The same-old-same-old becomes a bit shinier when we return.
Now, in all honesty, I did use my smart phone to check my e-mail and voicemail messages every three hours between 9 am and 5 pm. I knew that I might need to just give someone a quick call to touch base. I also knew that, since I’m not a medical doctor, there was nothing that someone would need from me today that couldn’t wait until tomorrow.
Take a bit of time off – whether it’s a half day at the spa or on the golf course, a full weekend with no work calls or e-mails, or a vacation away from home and office – it will do you and your work good!
