It’s
always hard for an entrepreneur to decide to take time off, and many small
business owners forgo holidays altogether. That, however, is decidedly not good
for you and not really good for the business either. When you don’t take
breaks, you get tired and stale, and that affects your performance. Your
business can no longer benefit from your vision and verve.
Getting Away Does Help
Take
a tip from your bookkeepers and
book yourself a holiday. If you really can’t afford to leave your work for a
week or two, find ways to take it with you. A change is as good as a rest, the
old saying goes, and this could work for you too.
When
you are away from home and your work place, other responsibilities are left
behind. You can make time in the day or evening for exploring the new
environment or go for a refreshing swim in the sea or the hotel pool before or
after you put in a few hours of work. You’ll wake in the mornings with things
to look forward to once you close your laptop. You’ll be eager to get the work
out of the way so you can join companions on the beach or the golf course.
A Little Planning
Could Make it Work
If
you have a favourite holiday destination, it could be worth buying a holiday
home there and going away regularly. Whether it’s a place in the sun or a
country retreat, you’ll be bound to come back with batteries charged and ready
to move forward at top speed. If you like exploring different places, you need
to spend a little extra time on planning to make sure you book somewhere you’ll
have internet access. Everything else you can take with you.
To
get the most from your break, you should set some rules where you can. These
could be set times during the day to check and respond to emails and other
messages. Your out-of-office email message could ask for text messages to your
mobile for anything urgent.
The
holiday destination could give you the respite you need to write an important
proposal or bid for funding. But if you expect to be really busy on something
like this, plan longer periods for working with set times to stop and do
something else.
It’s
true that having to work on a break is not ideal, but it’s certainly better
than not taking one at all. With all the technology that’s available now to
make it possible to access your files and stay in contact with staff and
customers, there really is no excuse for putting off taking that well-deserved
and much-needed holiday.
To
be sure that everything will be properly looked after whilst you are away, have
a chat with your outsourced
bookkeepers about their general office services. You might be surprised at
what can be taken off your shoulders for as long as you want.
