If you’re anything like me, the lines between work + personal can get oh-so-blurry. There’s no true way of knowing how many hours you work in a day or week. (“All of them” is an appropriate answer, right?) Which is why it’s important to take a break from business once in a while.
When work bleeds into personal life
Every electronic you buy is a business expense, right? Simply because you’ll be checking email / posting to Instagram / researching your latest project with it. And your significant other will have to fill you in on what happened in the show you were just watching because an idea came to you that needed to be written down.
You might have amazing boundaries in place with your clients in place. But how are those boundaries you set with yourself?
My way to take a business break
The recent US holiday was a great reminder in the spectrum of work styles that my fellow entrepreneurial pals have. Some treated the Friday holiday as a day to take a business break. While others treated Friday as a balls-to-the-wall work day free from email interruption.
While I successfully didn’t work on the 4th of July (thanks to family + friends), I have been wanting to be better about disconnecting from the business in order to be much more present with whatever it is that I’m doing. Earlier in the week, when I was on a SUP board, I realized I had the perfect way to do just that. There was no way I’d bring my iPhone or laptop out into the open water. Plus, I needed to concentrate on not drifting away or falling off.
Inspired by my aquatic adventure, I brainstormed more ways to unwind. I want to share my list with you, so maybe you won’t feel the need to freeze your iPhone in a block of ice —
- SUP time on the lake
- CrossFit workout
- walking Brutus + Pixel (there is no way I can work with 2 mastiffs tethered to me via leash)
- landscaping/gardening
- vacation somewhere will poor cell reception
- offer to babysit
- cook or bake a multi-step meal
- epsom salt baths
- acupuncture/massage
- give myself a manicure (no typing on the keyboard with wet nailpolish!)
This list will hopefully help you find ways to take a business break while allowing you to reset too. What you choose to do doesn’t have to be anything grand, expensive, or a big deal. Finding something that disconnects you for 15 minutes will benefit you tenfold in terms of creativity + productivity.
Your permission slip
Do you need permission from someone to take a break from your business?
I hereby give you permission to take off your business owner hat. Enjoy it, sunshine. You deserve the heck out of it!